#Musselcrete
local island · pure · sustainable · low carbon · harvest · restoration · cultivation · texture · manipulation · parma-violet
'Musselcrete' is inspired by the coast of my home islands, Ireland and the Isle of Man. Musselcrete looks at how natural and organic materials local to these island's coasts can form and be admixtures of concrete.
Through research, there was also the discovery of the mineralogy of shells comprising of different types of Calcium Carbonates (CaC03). Through a calcination process and decarbonation happening in heating the shells, the resulting product is lime. The idea of creating concrete that used mussels as a cement alternative but also as aggregate, creating a pure mix along with water came to fruition and carried forward.
Creating this cement alternative is not only environmentally viable due to locality but also because it is more environmentally sustainable by producing less carbon emissions through calcination. There is also an initiative of recycling and reusing these local shells, the shellcycle. There was also the idea of moulds being a coastal theme with some trials creating ‘silicon-like’ moulds from seaweed.
