This weekend, NRC published an extensive article about a growing trend in Senegal: building with earth instead of concrete. This involves the use of hydraulically compressed earth blocks (HCEB) – a technique developed over twenty years ago by LEVS, Oskam, and the PPD foundation. In Dakar, parties such as ELEMENTERRE (led by engineer Doudou Dème) and the architecture firm Worofila are now applying this on a larger scale, including in projects for the International Finance Corporation.
Over the past fifteen years, LEVS has designed the first HCEB projects in Mali, including schools, housing, and community centers. Additionally, PPD – for which LEVS partner Jurriaan van Stigt actively served as chairman – has set up training programs for masons, thereby anchoring knowledge locally and allowing the construction sector to develop sustainably. Together with TNO and Oskam, LEVS later worked on cement-free variants of the HCEB to make the method even more sustainable.
The NRC article demonstrates how early-developed knowledge and collaboration find their way into practice. For LEVS, it confirms how important it is to view our own knowledge and innovation surrounding smart building techniques not only as an end result but also as a catalyst for sustainable and inclusive architecture in a broader sense – in African countries and beyond.