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Research

The Lafarge research teams work closely with customers to understand their needs, developing new products that add value for all players in the building industry and contribute to more sustainable ways of building.

Customer-oriented research

Our research interests are closely based on the needs and specificities of the markets where the Group operates. A better understanding of our customers' needs and of the way they use our products enables us to develop truly innovative products, systems and solutions. Research works closely with marketing to build close relationships with the construction industry and design products and solutions which generate real added value.

 

The Group chose to focus on innovation several years ago. Lafarge has the world's leading research center for building materials and a presence in markets across 78 countries, as well as a strong competitive advantage derived from its scale and expertise as a major group.

This expertise is based on:

  • an interdisciplinary approach which combines physics, chemistry and building material mechanics,
  • state-of-the-art observation and digital modeling for nanometric analyses.

 
ATC (Asian Technical Center), Kuala Lumpur

ATC (Asian Technical Center), Kuala Lumpur

Artevia® decorative outdoor concretes

Artevia® decorative concretes are designed for outdoor applications. They offer many advantages:

  • excellent adaptation to complex shapes,

  • quick installation and low maintenance,

  • resistance to wear and tear,

  • creative freedom with a wide choice of colors and surface appearances.

Toward sustainable construction

The Group's R&D department develops products which are ever more environmentally friendly. It aims to:

 

  • decrease CO2 emissions in the production process,
  • conserve natural resources, for example by increasing the proportion of recycled raw materials in the production process,
  • create value-added products for sustainable construction, for example by improving the thermal inertia of buildings,
  • improve health and safety conditions for employees and subcontractors,
  • optimize the performance and use of products. For example:
  • the dust-free technology of Sensium® cement helps improve working conditions for craftsmen in the building trades.
  • Agilia® self-placing concrete does not require vibration, reducing physical effort and noise on building sites.

 

 

The Lafarge Research Center: innovation in motion

The 250 researchers at the Lafarge Research Center seek to understand physical and chemical mechanisms and elaborate new technologies.


The 15,000 m² site boasts state-of-the-art laboratories, pilot workshops and high-tech equipment including electron microscopes, field-effect microscopes and nano-scale instruments.
The Research Center also houses an experimental concrete plant in its technological building, the only facility of its kind in the world. This allows industrial-scale testing of laboratory results, speeding up the time to market for Lafarge's innovative concrete products

 

 

Lafarge Research Center

Lafarge boasts the world's leading research center for building materials, Fundamental and applied research focuses on 3 main areas:

  • End-user performance, in both product finish (quality, aesthetics, functionality) and product implementation (ease of use, productivity),

  • Industrial performance, notably in production processes and environmental performance (e.g. reducing CO2 emissions from cement production),

  • Preparation for the future, to develop products and solutions that contribute to a more sustainable, environmentally friendly industry.

 

Lafarge Technical Centers

Lafarge Cement has technical centers in:

  • Vienna, Austria, serving Central and Eastern Europe and the Middle East (Cement Technical Center - C.T.E.C.),

  • L'Isle d'Abeau, France, serving Western Europe and Africa (Technical Center Europe and Africa - T.C.E.A.),

  • Montreal, Canada, serving the Americas (Corporate Technical Services - C.T.S.). The C.T.S. has a branch in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil,

  • Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, serving Asia (Asian Technical Center - A.T.C.). The A.T.C. has a branch in Beijing, China.

  • Cairo, Egypt, serving Africa and the Middle-East (Cairo Technical Center - CTC).

 

Lafarge Gypsum's central research and technical center is in Avignon, France.

 

Working at CTEC

Gilles Chanvillard, Director of the Structured Materials Division

 

"The Group's Research center brings together, on a single site, all of the scientific experts who are needed to master materials: chemists, physicists, powder specialists, rheologists, etc. Each project is piloted by a scientific support committee, which gathers and circulates information between experts. Ideas are fed into a knowledge base which, in the spirit of shared innovation, is accessible to everyone."

 
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Low-energy housing

Take the owner's tour!


Combining 20 sustainable construction rules with innovative solutions produced by Lafarge's R&D, low-energy housing is explained in this flash animation. From the foundations and the exterior to the insulation and the interior - see how a low-energy house is created!

Low-energy housing