What if some of the materials needed for Europe’s future buildings were already growing in its fields? Rice in Northern Italy, hops in Bavaria, sunflower in France and wheat in Poland are deeply embedded in their regional landscapes and economies. Once harvested and processed, these crops also generate substantial amounts of residual biomass. Some of it already has established uses, while other streams remain difficult to valorise or offer potential for new applications. For construction, this raises an interesting question: could materials that originate in agriculture become part of the built environment?
The question matters because the construction sector is still highly dependent on large quantities of primary raw materials, like stone, sand, clay, minerals and metal ores. They are extracted, processed and transported before they ever reach a building site. These material systems have made modern construction possible and will remain important, but the scale at which they are used makes the search for complementary resources increasingly relevant. Bio-based materials offer one such direction, because they introduce renewable resources and biological side streams into a sector that has traditionally relied much more heavily on mineral extraction and energy-intensive production.
BIOARC explores this possibility through agricultural residues that already exist within the four European bioregions mentioned. The idea is not to treat biomass as a generic resource that can simply be moved wherever needed. A rice by-product from Italy comes with a particular agricultural system, processing chain and local infrastructure. Hop residues in Germany exist in a completely different context. The same is true for sunflower biomass in France and wheat residues in Poland. Understanding these differences is central to the project because the potential of a bio-based material depends on much more than the properties of the feedstock itself. Availability, transport, existing uses, local knowledge and the actors involved in handling the material all influence whether a new application makes sense.
This is where BIOARC’s bioregional perspective becomes important. Instead of beginning with a predefined construction product and searching for raw materials to fit it, the project looks at the resources already present in a region and asks what kinds of material pathways could emerge from them. Farmers, processors, researchers, designers and manufacturers become part of the same conversation. In this context, agricultural residues are no longer seen solely as the final output of one production chain. They can become the starting point for another and that’s where the topic of circularity enters the picture.
BIOARC combines these residues with biomineralisation, using Microbially Induced Calcite Precipitation, or MICP, to create mineral bonds within the material. Selected microorganisms promote the formation of calcium carbonate, which can help bind particles together and form bio-cemented composites. In our case, we are using CrescoBindTM technology to do just that. The principle is biological, but translating it into a construction material brings very practical challenges. Different feedstocks behave differently. Production needs to be reproducible and material properties have to be understood and tested. Processes that work under controlled laboratory conditions need to be developed further if they are ever to become viable at a larger scale.
For this reason, the value of bio-based materials cannot be judged by origin alone. A material is not automatically sustainable because it comes from biomass, just as a conventional material cannot be assessed only through the environmental cost of its extraction. Processing, transport, durability, performance and end-of-life options all matter. A residue may already have another valuable use. A renewable material transported over long distances may lose part of its environmental advantage. A new composite that cannot meet the requirements of its intended application will not become useful simply because its ingredients are bio-based.
The real opportunity lies in expanding the range of materials available to construction and developing them around the conditions in which they make the most sense. A future building may combine conventional materials, reused components, timber and new bio-based products, each selected for a particular role. There is little value in expecting one material to replace everything else.
What bio-based construction can offer Europe is a different relationship between resources and place. Material development can start with what a region already produces, connect industries that have traditionally operated separately and create new value from existing resource streams. A by-product from agriculture could become part of an architectural material. A biological process could contribute to manufacturing. Local production systems could shape the materials used in local or regional construction.
The future of European construction will depend on many small changes in how resources are sourced, processed and valued. BIOARC is exploring one of those changes: whether the landscapes that already provide Europe with food and agricultural products could also contribute to the materials from which parts of its future built environment are made.