Established in 2009 in Ghazala, Tunisia, ste SOIB aims at reducing the various environmental and financial costs of construction, which include energy, water, and time. Ste SOIB’s construction blocks – or as Ghannem describes them, “LEGO blocks” – are sourced from remains of mine sites. The company then recycles these discarded materials into building blocks that fit together without needing cement, making them a handy substitute for conventional red clay bricks.
Nothing is wasted at ste SOIB – whatever is not used is recycled and remolded. The company’s building materials vary in size from 22 cm blocks (used for outer walls) to 6 cm blocks (used for inner walls). “The 22 cm blocks will replace the regular 40 cm double enclosure blocks, which will result in a 20% increase in the house’s footprint,” explained Ghannem. “The family can gain an extra room!”
The LEGO blocks can be assembled above each other in an interlacing pattern where each block will attach to the other without the use of a binding substance thus making the construction process will become 3x faster. The benefits of SOIB do not stop at the construction stage. “These blocks have excellent thermal resistance,” Ghannem added. “They can also withstand earthquakes – a quality that not all conventional masonry building blocks have.”
