OUR HISTORY

Gwilen is the name of the longest river in Brittany, the Vilaine. Yann, founder of GWILEN, grew up on the banks of its estuary.

Since the construction of a dam in the 1970s, this estuary has gradually silted up. So much so that today, it is estimated that about 100,000 cubic meters of sediment would have to be extracted each year for it to recover its natural appearance.

This estuary, a protected natural area, is symbolic of the impact that humans have on their environment.

This silting problem concerns estuaries, but also ports. Indeed, when a current slows down, the particles that are suspended in the liquid have time to settle on the bottom. Siltation is inevitable and intrinsic to the design of ports. It is all ports, Breton, French, and even worldwide that silt up.

Architect and engineer, Yann saw in these materials a potential resource for new construction materials. This is how he started developing a transformation process to solidify these sediments, with the criterion of limiting energy consumption during the transformation process.

And so GWILEN was born.