Researchers at the Technical University of Dresden have been working with German architecture firm Henn to create the first concrete building to be reinforced with carbon fibres instead of steel.
Currently under construction at the TU Dresden university campus in Germany, The Cube is billed as the "world's first building made of carbon concrete".
Building reinforced with carbon fibre
This newly developed type of concrete offers the same structural strength as concrete reinforced with steel rebar but uses far less concrete, researchers claim.
The concrete is strengthened with carbon fibre yarn, which is made by binding together many carbon fibres ? ultra-thin threads of almost pure carbon crystals ? using a process of thermal decomposition called pyrolysis. These yarns are used to create a mesh that the concrete is poured onto.

According to Henn, the resulting material is four times stronger than regular concrete, but also four times lighter, due to the reduced structural sections.
The carbon-fibre mesh is also rust-proof, unlike steel, meaning carbon concrete has a longer lifespan than typical reinforced concrete. This also means structures can be much thinner since much of the thickness of steel-reinforced concrete is due to the need to prevent water penetration leading to oxidization of the rebar.
Henn designed The Cube in collaboration with the Institute for Solid Construction at TU Dresden, led by professor Manfred Curbach.
The Cube's shape informed by carb...