Mere steps from the ocean, and enveloped by mangroves, wetlands and gardens bursting with native flora, the newly opened Kymaia Hotel is at one with its surroundings just outside of Puerto Escondido in Oaxaca, Mexico. The latest hospitality venture by entrepreneur Ezequiel Ayarza Sforza is positioned as “an oasis where luxury and nature intertwine in a delicate balance” that celebrates sustainability, biodiversity and the cultural heritage of the region. To bring his holistic vision to life, Ayarza Sforza called on Mexico City–based architecture studio Productora, a firm known for context-appropriate and timeless designs that incorporate tradition and emotion along with a touch of playfulness and the unexpected.

Sitting low on the landscape, the 22 guest suites at Kymaia offer privacy through their pyramidal form. Large windows that face the ocean provide spectacular views, while shutters made from local wood and gauzy drapes help control the interior climate.

“We wanted to create a strong connection between the
organic landscape and the hard architecture,” says Productora associate architect Natalia Badia of the resort, which comprises 22 private guest suites, three restaurants, a spa and a yoga studio, as well as walking trails and a pool. (Mexican design firm The Book of Wa was responsible for the interiors.) To establish that harmonious relationship with the land — one that complements the area’s natural beauty — the team employed traditional materials and building techniques that minimize impacts on the environment.

Inspired by pre-Hispanic pyramids, the individual guest suites were built from rammed earth blocks, approximately 500 of them per building. They were crafted by local artisans at a production site nearby, then carefully stacked by hand; thin horizontal poured-in-place concrete slabs between each row lend strength and stability. The stepped structures form a “containing element for the private spaces within the suites,” says Badia. “The material also acts as thermal walls that deflect heat and direct sun to keep the interiors cool.”

Chosen for their thermal qualities and local availability, the rammed earth blocks “will age beautifully and naturally and let the pyramids evolve with the landscape over time,” says architect Natalia Badia.

To ensure the interiors were as open as possible, an inverted structural beam system was used to support the flat roof without cluttering up the floor space. Projecting 1.5 metres out from the volumes, the clean-lined, pigmented-concrete roof slabs also provide a shading element that doesn’t distract from the organized silhouettes. Locally sourced Macuil wood lines the suites’ interiors — designed with a mix of Mexican and Japanese influences — and was used for the operable shutters that assist in cross-ventilation by controlling ocean breezes and minimizing sun glare during the day.

Complemented by Productora’s landscaping and bioclimatic methods — like solar energy and a wetlands system that treats wastewater before redistributing it into the ecosystem — the rammed earth structures that dot the grounds create a “synergy” with the landscape, one that is sensitive, supportive and nothing short of stunning.

New artificial sweeteners keep being invented, but sugar remains one of the world’s most popular ingredients — an estimated 194 million tonnes were produced between 2023 and 2024. Manufacturing all that sweetness comes with a cost. Along with detrimental health implications, the global sugar production industry has significant impacts on the
environment, contributing to water and air pollution, land degradation and a massive amount of agricultural waste — a main component of that being bagasse, the fibrous material left over from sugarcane after it has been pulverized to extract its juices. While the low-carbon, renewable material is often upcycled into paper and packaging or used as a biofuel, bagasse is still a relatively underutilized resource. With Sugarcrete, researchers at the University of East London (UEL) are ready to change that.

Alan Chandler (left) and Armor Gutiérrez Rivas (right) with Francisco Izquierdo, whose sugarcane and rum facility Ron El Mondero, in Granada, Spain, provides the researchers with bagasse.

Since 2021, Armor Gutiérrez Rivas, an architect and senior lecturer at the university’s Sustainability Research Institute (SRI), SRI associate Alan Chandler and SRI senior research fellow Bamdad Ayati have been leading a team of students in the development of Sugarcrete, a pioneering bio-based and low-carbon alternative to concrete. As part of a wider research and sustainability project to regenerate the Royal Docks waterfront, students from the design studio had approached local sugar-maker — and neighbour — Tate & Lyle Sugars with a proposal to collaboratively explore how to divert bagasse from its waste stream to use as construction materials for the area. Prototypes of the sustainable building blocks were realized by reinforcing the fibrous leftovers with a variety of mineral binders, producing a material with a carbon footprint “six times lower than clay brick and three times lower than concrete blocks of equal volume,” say Gutiérrez Rivas and Chandler. “Sugarcrete has been tested to industry standards for fire resistance, compressive strength, thermal conductivity and durability.”

Made from bagasse, a waste product from sugarcane production, Sugarcrete blocks sequester more carbon than clay and concrete of equal volume. PHOTO: Megan Jones

But Sugarcrete’s potential goes beyond bettering just the building industry. It will be positioned as an international grassroots initiative and open-source knowledge base aimed at benefiting economies and reviving heritage across Europe and the Global South. “The environmental benefit of cane cultivation provides a unique sensory character where the sight and sound of marine breezes have created waves of blue water and green sugarcane for over 1,400 years,” say Gutiérrez Rivas and Chandler. “Working with municipalities, local cane producers, construction supply chains and industry partners, [it can] re-establish the ‘green
sea’ and enable pilot production facilities that benefit from research, testing and CE certification and establish the credentials of the material for the European market” —
all while creating “a unique tourist experience unlike any in the region.”

A worker builds a wall using Sugarcrete blocks (samples of which are shown at right) at a school in India, the first prototype building to use the material. PHOTO: Husain Akbar

There is also the possibility to resurrect dormant cane plantations and transform defunct concrete factories into bio-based manufacturing facilities to bring industry back to regions that frequently rely on imported construction materials, giving local producers and makers the ability to create new, affordable and low-carbon vernacular building components. At its essence, Sugarcrete is more than a revolutionary material — it is a coalescence of design, sustainability and community impact. How sweet is that?

Back in the late spring of 2023, Toronto became the first city in North America to implement new standards to limit upfront embodied carbon emissions in new municipally owned buildings through the use of lower-carbon construction materials. Mandated for all City buildings (and certain private developments), the standards require that upfront embodied carbon emissions — those generated from material extraction, manufacturing, and the transportation and assembly of structural and envelope systems — be capped at 350 kgCO2e/m2. In response, local architecture firm BDP Quadrangle, which made its own commitment that 100 per cent of its projects would be net-zero carbon–ready with a targeted embodied carbon intensity (ECI) of 250 kgCO2e/m2 by 2030, assessed 44 of its already built multi-unit residential projects to understand the impacts of ECI on envelope expression, form and material selection. “We wanted to create an accessible tool box to understand and influence design decisions with regards to embodied carbon,” says architect and innovation director Michelle Xuereb.

Focused on the building envelope, the multi-month undertaking resulted in a comprehensive data set that provides architects with a tool to determine an embodied carbon budget long before shovel hits ground. Here, Xuereb shares some key considerations when devising a low-carbon, sustainable building.

Simpler Forms > Complex Forms

BDP Quadrangle found that 23 per cent of a building’s embodied carbon is derived from its envelope, and the more complicated the design, the bigger that impact. A major factor related to this is the vertical floor area ratios (VFAR), since buildings with a lower VFAR will minimize material demands by nature of their reduced surface area.

Reconsider Glazing

The building’s window-to-wall ratios (WWR) are another big factor. The firm determined that keeping the WWR below 40 per cent means utilizing more solid wall assemblies than aluminum window wall systems, which are more carbon-intensive.

Maximize Density

Optimizing the density of a building requires a mix of unit sizes and layout efficiency. Projects that incorporate one-, two- and three-bedroom units with compact layouts and an average size of 75.4 square metres were found to be the most effective at limiting material use and distributing embodied carbon effectively.

Be Selective with Materials

When planning the envelope, materials make a difference. Aluminum systems and glass, though popular, are currently high in embodied carbon; as production processes change and become more efficient, these numbers will reduce. Until then, opting for ceramic, brick or even precast concrete can significantly reduce a building envelope’s ECI.

For a striking brick-clad facade, try these three masonry choices that bring out the boldness of brick.

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Silver City Smooth by Glen-Gery

Brick manufacturer Glen-Gery introduces Silver City Smooth, a greyish-white tone, as its signature finish for 2025. Designed as part of the Emporium+ Series (alongside Black Pearl, Belgian Grey and Aspen White), this smooth-faced brick features a slight extruded edge that offers a sophisticated architectural presence. Fabricated at the Pennsylvania-based Hanley plant, the standard brick is 20.3 centimetres long by 5.7 centimetres high and 9.2 centimetres thick.

2

Handformed Brick by Dutch Quality Stone

Looking for masonry with an artisanal touch? With slight variations in texture and dimension, the 2.5-centimetre-thick Handformed Bricks from Dutch Quality Stone have an appealing bespoke quality. Available in Quail Grey, Snowpack and Coal Crest (shown), this tumbled design moulded from authentic bricks creates a unique sense of depth with its variable configuration. At 6.3 centimetres in height and 21.2 centimetres in length, the profile blends traditional craftsmanship with modern technological innovation.

3

Masonry Collection by Rinox

A leader in high-end, high-performance masonry products for over 25 years, Canadian brand Rinox recently updated its catalogue with five new dynamic colour options: Volcano (red), Husky (grey), Caviar (dark grey), Whistler (creamy white) and Truffle (brown). All are available as bricks, pavers and slabs; shown here, the Clayden brick (offered in three sizes) in Truffle mixes geometric mid-century design with the colouring of the ancient clay bricks of antiquity.

For stylish yet durable roofing ideas, check out these three solutions:

1

The Zintek by Zintek

The small village of Sella Nevea in Northeast Italy is renowned for its ski slopes and rugged beauty, but winter here is no joke, and the built environment must be solid and sturdy enough to withstand the harsh climate. At the Montasio Complex — a 1970s apartment building restored by Fulvio Caputo of C and C Architettura Ingegneria — the key was upgrading the roof. Made of sheet metal and zinctitanium laminate by Zintek, the ventilated roof (with snow guards and filters to protect the vents from icy particles) improves seismic resistance, bolsters thermal insulation and reduces energy consumption: The structure now consumes only 37 per cent as much as it previously did.

2

SyntheticSlate Roofing Tile by Polysand

For Canadian synthetic roofing expert Polysand, durability is the watchword. Its new innovative SyntheticSlate roofing solution — a composite material made from virgin polymers and recycled filler — can withstand extreme temperatures (from -60°C to 80°C) and offers high UV protection to prevent cracking and fading. The slate (available in onyx and ash grey) is even resistant to weed and moss growth due to its lack of open pores. And at only one kilogram per tile, it is five times lighter than a slab of natural slate with the same dimensions. With an organic edge design, standard tiles are 55.8 centimetres long and 30.4 centimetres wide — with a thickness of only 1.2 centimetres.

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Cool Roof Colors by Brava

Brava has introduced a number of unique new colour options for its Cool Roof line of Cedar Shake (four new colours), Slate (five colours) and Spanish Barrel (two colours) roof tiles. Each tonal variation is completely distinct and creates an authentic feel thanks to the brand’s patented mineral-infusion process. All Class 4 impact rated, the tiles balance interior heating and mitigate energy consumption with high solar reflectance and thermal emittance. Available in multiple dimensions and three configurations depending on roof pitch, Cedar Shake (shown here in Cool Weathered) is a durable, heat-conscious synthetic alternative to the traditional roofing style.