Swiss embassy in Cameroon to be built with clay bricks from Oxara

(CONNECT) The go-ahead has been given for the construction of the new Swiss embassy in the Cameroonian capital Yaoundé, and Dietikon-based Oxara AG is playing a key role in the project, according to a press release. The public building is made of pressed clay bricks. Oxara supplies its stabilizer Oxabrick Loko for the locally abundant red raw material.

The embassy building was designed by the Basel architectural firms Caesar Zumthor Architekten and Nord Architekten and comprises a chancellery, residence and connecting building grouped around a courtyard. The buildings are to be constructed sustainably using local resources.

Oxara, which was founded in 2019, has started a series on its website in which it reports on the progress of the construction work. "In western Africa, clay is perceived as a sign of poverty and rurality, while concrete dominates as a status symbol in the cities," Oxara's project manager Jonathan Ensslin is quoted as saying. "It therefore sends out a signal that the new Swiss embassy is being built with clay."

The non-toxic mineral activator from Oxara turns clay into a stable and water-repellent building material. According to the company, this makes earth buildings faster, less labor-intensive and scalable. At the same time, they are circular and low in CO2.

Tests in the Oxara laboratory had shown that the material is well suited for use with Oxabrick Loko. However, the laboratory results could not initially be reproduced on site. With the help of local materials researcher Bernadin Beauderic Kenne Diffo, who had already got to know Oxara during his doctorate at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, the mixing ratios were adjusted. A trial wall with around 7000 clay bricks is currently being completed. Construction work on the new embassy will then begin. ce/mm