Algae bricks and oyster shell walls: what’s on the horizon for eco-friendly building in Australia?

Oyster shells at Australian company Mineral Fox’s drying facility. They’re used to make renders for interior walls in various textures. Photograph: Supplied

The average person might simply see green goop, but when Ben Hankamer looks at microalgae, he sees the building blocks of the future.

Prof Hankamer, from the Institute of Molecular Bioscience at the University of Queensland, is one of a growing number of people around the world exploring ways living organisms and their products can be integrated into our built environment – from algae-based bricks to straw or fungi wall panels, and render made from oyster shells.