Projects
What has happened where we have worked
Real coasts, real results. Each story covers the problem, what we did and what changed. Filter by the kind of coast closest to yours.
CCell reef units offshore at Telchac Puerto (CCell photo)
Featured project
Aerial survey of Telchac Puerto. The red lines mark the reef and the sand building up behind it (CCell)
March 2021
August 2022The beach at Telchac Puerto before and after the 2021 reef (CCell)
Coastal authoritiesEstates and communities
Read the full story
Telchac Puerto, Mexico
The problem: a decade of sand loss, up to 5 m in a single year.
What we did: in 2021, with property owners, fishers and the mayor, we installed more than 50 reef units in a barrier about 150 m long in front of nine properties, controlled remotely from the UK. In 2024 we returned with the municipality and the Yucatan state government to install a 50 m hyperboloid reef 80 m offshore in three days.
What changed: the beach in front of the 2021 reef built back (photos, left), and sand began building up behind the 2024 reef within three weeks.
250 mcoastline protected
3 daysto install
3 weeksto first recovery
All projects
Hotels and resortsPorts and marinasRead the story
Royal Resorts, Cancun - 2021
A living reef at the end of the pier
Problem: the resort wanted more marine life and an underwater experience for guests.
Changed: bare steel to living reef in six months, with growth continuing after the power was switched off.
80 mpier
~6 mmrock a month
Estates and communitiesHotels and resortsRead the story
Telchac Puerto - 2022
An underwater museum built by the community
Problem: a new marine park needed attractions and a way to involve local people.
Changed: four sculptures designed by marine-school students, built by local welders and grown into reef with CCell's equipment.
4sculptures
10 mfrom shore
ResearchEngineering partnersRead the story
ARMOUR, UK - 2023
Reused steel turned into reef
Problem: new steel adds cost and carbon to every reef.
Changed: reclaimed steel proven for reef units, with a solar-powered pilot at Exmouth Mussel.
~45%less embodied carbon
Up to 80%lower unit cost
ResearchRead the story
BEARS, UK and Mexico - 2024
Reefs grown on bamboo
Problem: electrochemical reefs have always needed steel.
Changed: with the University of Bath, coatings that let rock grow on bamboo, tested in the lab and at sea.
Bamboomain material
Bathresearch partner
Coastal authoritiesEngineering partnersMore on our modelling
Grand Bahama - 2017
What Hurricane Matthew showed
Question: how much did offshore reefs protect the coast?
Found: around 95 percent of homes in Eight Mile Rock were damaged, and damage was concentrated where there was no offshore reef.
2016hurricane
Surveythe year after
Engineering partnersHotels and resortsRead more
Private island, Belize - 2021
Waves and currents around an island
Question: how do waves and currents move around the island and its shoreline?
Did: coastal modelling of waves and currents around the whole island.
Islandscale model
Currentsand waves
Hotels and resortsEngineering partnersRead the case study
Turks and Caicos - 2025
Seabed and site survey
Question: what does the seabed look like before any design starts?
Did: a bathymetric and site survey with our partners AxisIMA.
Surveybathymetry
AxisIMApartners
Coming soon
More projects to add
[Placeholders for projects in Turks and Caicos, Bermuda and Israel, once clients have approved the stories.]
Results at a glance
Numbers, with where they came from
3 weeksto first beach recovery at Telchac Puerto
~6 mmof new rock a month on the Royal Resorts reef
6 monthsfrom bare frame to living reef
~45%less embodied carbon using reused steel
On every project
The reef keeps giving
Whatever the reason for the project, each reef also becomes a home for marine life, and we track it with our own sensors and regular underwater surveys.
HabitatFish, crabs, sponges and shellfish recorded on our reefs.
MonitoringCCell Sense sensors on site, plus underwater surveys.
CommunityLocal teams, students and visitors involved in the build.
Lower carbonReused steel and bio-based materials where possible.
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Start with a small first step
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