LEADER
Repeat with variation
Many old or forgotten techniques have new relevance in the climate change era
It always makes me smile when I see adverts for really expensive bars of soap as the height of sustainability and a new solution to plastic packaging – no need for a bottle! I can just imagine my grandma’s unimpressed reaction. There is undoubtedly value in looking backwards as well the material-efficient thin-shell structures of mid-century projects.
The methods used back then might be too labour-intensive to work today, but we can take advantage of new manufacturing technologies to make them viable again. Sometimes there are no technical barriers to a particular material or method – it’s the wider industry context that makes something unworkable, as forwards, especially in the context of a construction industry that is evolving in response to climate change. That’s what comes to mind when I look through this issue of CQ.
The gorgeous “naturbetong” casting process patented by Norwegian architect Erling Viksjø features not only in our From the Archive slot (page 12), but also as the star of the newly refurbished Health Council building in Oslo (page 30). A finish characteristic of 1960s Scandinavian modernism chimes with the current trend for embracing concrete’s natural, of-the-earth appearance – we are once again receiving a growing number of enquiries from specifiers looking for ways of revealing the aggregate and celebrating the uniqueness of each pour.
The concrete industry is continually developing new products and ways to build with them – from the use of seashells in permeable surfaces on page 6 to the lower-carbon multicomponent cements now included in the BS 8500 standard (page 32) – but we can still find inspiration and some very useful ideas by looking at how concrete was used in the past, in eras with different priorities and constraints.
There are many old or forgotten techniques that have new relevance in the contexts of sustainability and material efficiency. Researchers are uncovering the secrets of Roman concrete’s strength, and reviving whether that’s standards or cost or availability or skill. But that can change: conditions shift again, recreating the situation where a solution can work. It’s almost as if nothing’s impossible, as long as there’s a real desire to get there.
This is what we can see happening right now across the built environment, with the impetus provided by the net-zero agenda – we have a clear target and we all have a role to play to achieve it, whether that’s through technical innovation or market evolution, or just remaining abreast of all the new lower-carbon products that are coming through research and development and reaching the mainstream.
It’s deeply heartening to see what we can accomplish when everyone comes together, collaborating to seize opportunities and drive things forwards. But I’m happy too that, in pursuit of the best options, designers aren’t afraid to go back and reclaim the past.
Elaine Toogood, Director, Architecture and Sustainable Design, The Concrete Centre