Sustainable Civic Centre for Underprivileged Children and Women Empowerment

About This Project

This project represents a pioneering collaboration between Paryatan Foundation and the University of East London (UEL) to design and construct an innovative Civic Centre serving the underprivileged children of slum communities. The centre will function as both an educational institution for disadvantaged children and a hub for community development, to be built entirely using Sugarcrete®, an ultra-low carbon bio-based material that upcycles sugarcane waste bagasse into construction components. Currently, architects from the University of East London are working collaboratively with Paryatan Foundation on the design of this facility.

Our Vision

The Civic Centre embodies a holistic approach to community development that addresses three critical interconnected challenges: educational inequality, environmental sustainability, and community empowerment. By designing quality education spaces in a building that actively sequesters carbon, this project aims to create tangible social impact while demonstrating that sustainable development and inclusive growth can advance together

What We Do

Education For Underprivileged Children

The centre will provide quality education to children from slum settlements who often lack access to formal schooling. Through structured learning programs and activity-based pedagogy, the centre will foster academic excellence, life skills development, and holistic child development. Students will engage in environmental literacy and sustainability education, learning about water conservation, waste management, and climate action from their early years.

Future Plans: Women's Skill Development Programme

Upon completion of the facility, the centre will house a comprehensive training programme for women of the surrounding community, offering vocational skills training in areas such as tailoring, handicrafts, digital literacy, financial management, and sustainable practices. This planned empowerment initiative will enable women to achieve economic independence, gain decision-making power within their families, and contribute meaningfully to their communities as trained professionals and community leaders.

Sustainable Building With Sugarcrete

The entire structure will be constructed using Sugarcrete®, an ultra-low carbon bio-based material developed by researchers at the University of East London. Sugarcrete® is composed of three key components: sugarcane bagasse (the fibrous waste material remaining after sugar extraction), water, and lime (serving as mineral binders). This innovative combination creates construction blocks that achieve different degrees of structural strength depending on specific applications. Sugarcrete® has passed the required tests for ISO construction standards with excellent thermal, acoustic, and fire-resistant properties. The blocks feature exceptional performance characteristics including compressive strength of 1-2 MPa, thermal conductivity of 0.07 W/m.k, and a fire rating of Class B-s1, making them suitable for educational and community infrastructure.

Water Conservation & Environmental Impact

How We Address Water Security

The project directly addresses water conservation through multiple interconnected mechanisms:

Climate Resilience Through Carbon Reduction

Sugarcrete® delivers significant global warming reduction potential. Life cycle assessment data shows -0.48 kgCO₂e per standard block, contributing meaningfully to carbon emission avoidance. This carbon sequestration during material production and curing directly mitigates climate change, which is the primary driver of water scarcity and hydrological disruption worldwide. By reducing carbon emissions, the project contributes to climate stability, protecting local water resources from climate-induced drought and extreme precipitation events. Sugarcane itself is the world's largest crop by production volume with 1.9 billion tonnes (2020), and its rapid growth allows for a CO₂ absorption rate 50 times higher than traditional forestry.

Enhancing Soil Health And Groundwater Recharge

After the building's eventual demolition or renovation, Sugarcrete® blocks can be incorporated into soil as biodegradable organic matter. This incorporation significantly increases soil organic matter content, which enhances soil water-holding capacity, infiltration rates, and groundwater recharge. Soils enriched with organic matter from bagasse demonstrate improved water retention capacity and support better infiltration of precipitation, directly replenishing groundwater aquifers essential for community water security.

Building Environmental Literacy

Children participating in the centre will learn about the relationship between sustainable construction, carbon cycles, and water availability. This environmental literacy ensures that future generations understand and actively participate in water conservation and climate action.

Global Impact Potential

The global warming reduction potential of Sugarcrete® is significant. By using the existing surplus of 30% of global bagasse production (0.6 billion tonnes in 2023), carbon-intensive industries such as clay brick could be partially replaced. This demonstrates how innovative local sourcing aligned with regional agricultural patterns can deliver global environmental benefits while protecting water resources at both local and planetary scales.