A 30-year-old Indian architect and biochemical engineer is poised to revolutionise the construction industry with a living biomaterial discovery that could reshape how we think about sustainable building.
Prantar Tamuli, from Assam, Northeastern India, pursued his passion for architecture from an early age by opening his own practice, having been raised in an academic household. However, the limited opportunities in the region led him to seek a unique educational path that would merge his architectural ambitions with the world of biochemical engineering.
In 2019, Prantar moved to London to pursue a Bio-Integrated Design MSc degree at University College London (UCL), a course that aligned perfectly with his dual interest in architecture and biochemical engineering.
“I couldn’t find a program like this anywhere else in the world,†Prantar says, reflecting on the interdisciplinary approach that UCL offers. With Biodesign being traditionally a more arts-related subject rather than focusing primarily on scientific research skills, the course he found at UCL allowed Prantar to focus on exactly the kind of work that captured his interest.
One year into his studies, as the COVID-19 pandemic hit and stricter rules about lab use were put in place, this unique situation allowed Prantar to start conducting unconventional experiments. It was during this time that he made his breakthrough – a new living-biomaterial, more a discovery than an invention, that emerged from a novel process he had uncovered.
At the core of the living-biomaterial is the integration of photosynthetic cells using artificial tissue engineering methods. This allows the living-biomaterial to sequester one tonne of CO2 in just three cubic metres of the material volume during its production and continue to remove carbon from the atmosphere as the cells remain alive but dormant.
Prantar’s newly set up company, Tattva, backed by leading European climate technology VC firm G-Force, will play a key role in bringing the material to industry, and his team has also established partnerships in the UK to begin a pilot production plant in Devon.
With the help of UCL Business, the university’s technology commercialisation company, Prantar applied for a patent, setting the stage for a material that has already garnered interest from over 35 venture capital firms and several major global companies.
This living-biomaterial, currently at Technology Readiness Level 5 (on NASA’s nine-point scale), is set to reach Level 6 in 2025, when Tattva will begin testing in walls and construction. “By level 9, we’ll see it applied in industry,†Prantar explains.
An excellent insulator and very lightweight, Prantar believes the material has potential not only in traditional construction but also in cars and even extreme environments like spacecraft and lunar bases. Amid the global push towards Net Zero, this innovation could have far-reaching impacts not just in the UK or India but across the globe.
“There are many challenges, but we’ve developed ways to program the growth of the cells within the material that allows us to control the outcome properties of the material,†Prantar notes, highlighting the cutting-edge research driving this technology. His PhD supervisors from UCL, Dr Brenda Parker and Professor Marcos Cruz, believe the promise of this kind of living-biomaterial is tremendous, adding that if it is widely adopted, it could dramatically reduce the carbon footprint of the construction industry.
Prantar’s years at UCL have been transformative, both personally and professionally. “The workload was intense, but the supportive environment, both from my supervisors and the student community, made it manageable. It has been the best years of my life so far,” he says.
UCL provided a platform where he could propose radical ideas, something he found quite different from the academic setting back in Assam. This bottom-up research approach – where you create something first and then think of its applications – has led him to consider all manner of uses ranging from construction bricks to space infrastructure.
Two years into his time at UCL, Prantar was awarded the BPS Irène Manton Prize at the 69th annual conference of the British Phycological Society for his work on the living-biomaterial. Building on this achievement, he was awarded a PhD scholarship from EPSRC to continue the development as a doctoral research project.
During his PhD, he was accepted into Cohort V at Conception X, one of the UK’s leading PhD deep-tech venture programmes, where he began exploring how to transform his technology into a viable product, identify potential customers, and gain valuable insights from industry experts.
As he completes his PhD, with credible data now in hand, Prantar looks forward to bringing his innovation to the world. With an ever-growing need for economies to embrace green solutions on the path to Net Zero, it is an incredibly exciting time for the construction industry to adopt sustainable, carbon-sequestering technologies that can combat the climate crisis by replacing traditional flammable, petrol chemical-based construction materials.
From a young boy in Assam dreaming of being an architect to a scientist at the forefront of the sustainability revolution, Prantar’s journey is a testament to how the right blend of opportunity, mentoring, persistence and serendipity can lead to groundbreaking discoveries with global significance.
