• The Loiola Church in San Sebastián was designed by Moneo and uses TX Aria® by FYM–Cementos Rezola, a mortar product based on TX Active®.




Architect Rafael Moneo's new church in Donostia–San Sebastián was consecrated on 14 May and still boasts squeaky clean and pearly white walls a year after construction. This is thanks to TX Aria®, an innovative mortar product based on TX Active® technology, which was patented by the Italcementi Group company FYM–Cementos Rezola in a bid to fight urban pollution.

The new Riberas de Loiola Church, white both inside and out, is an example of a solemn and minimalist building which brings to mind the rationalist construction of Donostia–San Sebastián, such as the Club Náutico or the Equitativa building.

The outer facade is clad with white CAPAFINA TX Aria® mortar which has been applied to around 10,500 square metres of exterior and interior facing walls. Its exceptional self-cleaning and anti-pollution features will help reduce contamination in the Riberas de Loiola neighbourhood.

TX Active® is a registered trademark which includes an active photocatalytic ingredient for products made from FYM–Cementos Rezola TX® cements.

Self-cleaning and anti-pollution features

TX Active® is a photocatalytic ingredient found in TX® cements. When used as a binder in cement-based products and solutions, it helps reduce the level of both organic and inorganic pollutants in the atmosphere. It also has self-cleaning properties, thus providing a new dimension to construction: the capacity to decontaminate the exterior surfaces of buildings and pavements. Just like plants, TX Active® is able to use light energy to break substances in the atmosphere down through oxidation, such as nitrogen oxides, volatile organic compounds, carbon monoxide, sulfur oxide and particulates.

Research has shown that TX Active® also breaks down inorganic and organic material deposited on concrete and mortar surfaces. Buildings can therefore retain their original appearance, even after prolonged environmental exposure, and their initial physical state is retained thanks to the product's self-cleaning properties.

Building solutions which incorporate TX® cements have been tested on buildings and pavements throughout the world. Examples include the internationally renowned Dives in Misericordia in Rome, Italy, and the Via Borgo Palazzo pavement in Bergamo, Italy. In Spain, the product has been used successfully in the building housing the Audiovisual Innovation Centre in Donostia–San Sebastián and the Mislata Square in Valencia.

FYM–Cementos Rezola believes that today's generation not only should but in fact must protect the environment. Today, no architectural projects should be designed without considering factors to reduce and improve environmental impacts. That is why all planners are aware that sustainable architectural design is not an option; it's an obligation.

Using mortar and concrete made from TX® cements with TX Active® ingredients is an imminent step towards developing new sustainable architectural projects.