The United Arab Emirates consumes between 100,000 and 180,000 metric tons of dates each year, according to International Nut & Dried Fruit Council figures compiled by Statista. Most of the pits from that fruit are thrown away. Datecrete, a material studio co-founded by Sara Farha and Khaled Shalkha, wants those pits to become a date pit building material. The project won the designboom Special Prize at the Seoul Design Award 2026.
The project’s core idea runs against the grain of most design work. It takes a local waste stream and turns it into a raw material. The team says the same material can be cast into tiles, panels, furniture and decorative objects.
Turning discarded material into furniture follows the same logic, as seen in Marfa Stance’s upholstered furniture made from surplus fabric, which shows how leftover stock can become bold, usable objects.
Why date pit building material works
Designer John Maeda has said that design is a solution to a problem. Datecrete addresses two. The first is the large volume of waste produced by the food industry. The second is the reliance on cement, resins and petrochemical systems in construction and furniture making, materials that carry a heavy environmental cost.
Date pit waste is a practical starting point. The pits are hard, abundant and usually discarded. Chemically, they resemble wood, containing cellulose, lignin and hemicellulose. Datecrete’s website says the MENA region produces millions of tons of dates each year, generating large amounts of pits that often go unused.
The founders trace the roots of this date pit building material to regional building traditions. Datecrete combines those older techniques with modern materials research. Farha is an urban planner and material researcher who studies spatial and material innovation. Khaled Shalkha is a chemical engineer whose work covers energy policy and alternative binders. Their research has been featured in GQ, Architectural Digest Middle East and Dezeen.
From pit to panel
The production chain for this date pit building material starts with sourcing. Datecrete collects pits from local date processing factories, then cleans, dehydrates and grades them. Next, the pits are ground into a fine powder. The powder is blended with a patent-pending natural binder, and the mix is cast into molds.
After casting, the material cures under controlled conditions. Workers then sand and polish each piece. The final finish depends on how the object will be used. Surfaces can be sealed or enhanced to suit a given design setting.
Development relied on repeated testing. The team varied how long the seeds roasted, how they dried, how finely they were ground, how much binder went into each mix and how the mix cured. Each round showed how the powder bonded with the binder. The team used those results to refine a binder system it describes as lab-validated.
The company’s material specification sheet reports the following results:
- Compressive strength of 23.8 N/mm2 and flexural strength of 6.17 N/mm2
- Density of 1,650 kg/m3
- Thermal conductivity of 0.2768 W/mK
- Water penetration of 8 mm at 5 bar, tested to DIN 10481
- Surface burning Class A, with a flame spread index of 0
- No cracking, chalking or colour change after 500 hours of UV weathering, tested to ASTM G154
Those numbers come from the company, not an independent lab report. Buyers should request the full test documentation before specifying the material on a project.
Early projects and a timeline question
The sources give two start dates for the research. The designboom feature says Farha and Shalkha began studying date pits in 2021. The studio’s website places the start in 2022, when the co-founders took part in the Tanween by Tashkeel program.
Either way, the team spent about four years on prototypes before applying the material at scale. In 2025, Datecrete installed 35 metric tons of paving in the landscape around the UAE Pavilion at Expo 2025 Osaka.
The studio says each application feeds back into the system. Lessons about casting, finishing and installation shape the next formulation. Its near-term work remains bespoke projects. The founders say their long-term goal is large-scale architectural work, especially tiles, cladding and modular systems.
For larger-scale ambitions in earthen and architectural materials, Robotic Earth Bricks Forming a Dynamic Pavilion offers a useful comparison of how natural building units move from prototype into built structures.
Cultural weight
The date palm has deep roots in the region’s history. The project’s cultural framing traces the tree’s deep roots in the region’s history. Datecrete presents this date pit building material as a way to bring that heritage into present-day design.
The designboom feature says the approach could be adapted to other regions that produce lignocellulosic agricultural byproducts. That claim has not yet been tested beyond the date pit.
The prize jury’s framing maps neatly onto the work. The designboom Special Prize rewards three values: intentional curiosity, playful disruption and meaningful risk. Datecrete’s investigation of an overlooked local waste material fits the first. Its tiles and furniture, which invite viewers to see pits differently, fit the second. Its cement-free, petrochemical-free alternative fits the third.
Credit for the project goes to @datecrete, which the designboom feature lists as the account behind the work. The next test is whether a material built from dinner-table waste can move from one-off installations into the buildings that define a city’s skyline.
Sources & Links
Frequently asked questions
What is Datecrete’s date pit building material made from?
Datecrete makes its material from date pits collected at local date processing factories. The pits are cleaned, dehydrated, graded and ground into a fine powder, then blended with a patent-pending natural binder, cast into molds and cured under controlled conditions.
What award did Datecrete win at the Seoul Design Award 2026?
Datecrete won the designboom Special Prize at the Seoul Design Award 2026. The project turns UAE date pit waste into a building material.
How strong is Datecrete’s date pit building material?
According to the company’s material specification sheet, the material has a compressive strength of 23.8 N/mm2 and a flexural strength of 6.17 N/mm2. These figures come from the company itself, not an independent lab, so buyers should request full test documentation before specifying it.
Where has Datecrete’s date pit material been used so far?
In 2025, Datecrete installed 35 metric tons of paving in the landscape around the UAE Pavilion at Expo 2025 Osaka. The studio says lessons from each application shape its next formulation.
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