Rematter combines high-tech manufacturing with innovative material use to provide highly sustainable and price-competitive solutions for the construction industry. Their products preserve vital building materials for the use of future generations.
The Rematter ceiling system consists of recyclable materials such as solid wood and clay instead of concrete and thus achieves the best values in terms of greenhouse gas emissions, embodied energy and environmental impact. In addition, the clay ensures a pleasant and healthy indoor climate.
This ceiling system was developed in collaboration between Senn, Herzog & de Meuron and ZPF Ingenieure for the HORTUS office building part of Switzerland Innovation Park Basel Area, Main campus in Allschwil.
Convinced that the ceiling system could also be used in offices or residential buildings beyond the project, they joined forces to form a team consisting of engineers, sustainability experts, construction robotics and financial experts and founded the start-up Rematter to further develop the system into a marketable product.
There is great potential in multi-storey residential construction in particular. For example, the use of the Rematt ceiling system can save over half a million tonnes of CO2 annually compared to existing residential buildings in Switzerland alone.
Switzerland Innovation Park Central, site of Park Zurich played a pivotal role in Rematter's growth:
- Support and Community: Through Park Central, Rematter benefited from networking opportunities, project pitches, and connections with potential customers and investors.
- Financing: The start-up successfully secured critical funding from programs introduced by Park Central, including:
- Switzerland Innovation Tech4Impact: CHF 85,000
- Circular Building Industry Booster: CHF 20,000
- Infrastructure: Assistance in scouting for production and office space further solidified their foundation.
As Tobias Bonwetsch, Technical Development and Robotics Lead at Rematter, explains, "Thanks to Park Central and Sem Mattli, we were introduced to key funding programs that helped us successfully advance our product."
Rematter continues to thrive, supported by several accelerator programs like Innovation Booster Circular Building Industry and SmartGreen, as well as Tech4Impact. They have developed their first ceiling variant for residential buildings and are preparing for their first implementation projects while securing additional financing and establishing their own production facilities.