News

Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) and concrete: the differences

14 Sep 2023

Reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) planks derive their structural strength from metal reinforcing bars and this reinforcement needs to be protected from water ingress. Where RAAC planks have been exposed to water over a prolonged period of time corrosion weakens the bars and hence the planks. 

Concrete and aircrete products are not susceptible to the failures being seen in RAAC products manufactured from the 1950s to the 1980s.

An insight to the updated UK Concrete Sustainable Construction Strategy 

05 Sep 2023

By launching the Concrete Industry Sustainable Construction Strategy in 2008, the concrete industry demonstrated its leadership position by setting clear targets and ambitions for the delivery of a sustainable, low-carbon-built environment in a socially, environmentally, and economically responsible manner.

2023 Structural Concrete Student Competition winners announced

21 Aug 2023

The Concrete Centre’s annual student Structural Concrete competition, sponsored by Laing O’Rourke, has been won by Mark Coughlin, Jill McIlveen, Grace Miller & Andrew Currie from Queens University, Belfast. The 2023 project is a new office building with basement car parking in a city centre in the North West of England.

‘Fresh Concrete’ - exploring new approaches to making and using concrete 

31 Jul 2023

Last week saw the final of this year’s Fresh Concrete webinars, a series designed to showcase some of the innovative practice, and new types of concrete emerging to address climate mitigation and adaptation.  

The end of which life?

19 Jul 2023

Different reuse strategies will work for different parts of a building. When I was an architecture student, I used to make my models out of recycled Weetabix packets. It was only partly thriftiness – I also enjoyed the different qualities they could bring, which you just didn’t get using white Kapa board.

Design Concrete 2023 winners announced

12 Jun 2023

Design Concrete is a national student competition which encourages architecture students to explore the benefits of designing sustainably with concrete. The competition has been developed to fit within, or complement, the syllabus of an undergraduate degree course.

Innovation unleashed

16 May 2023

The level of innovation under way in concrete right now is unlike anything I’ve experienced during my career as an architect. There has always been research and development, but what feels different is the appetite to take it to the next level, from early stage work in universities right through to real-world projects.

Thirst for knowledge

02 Feb 2023

It’s great to see so much cross-industry collaboration to accelerate the decarbonisation of our built environment. But I’ve noticed that they very often come up against the same problem: a lack of data about the buildings we are completing today.

Getting closer to net zero using concrete

11 Oct 2022

This year’s Concrete Centre Sustainability Series has now officially started. Elaine Toogood reflects on the launch event and the theme of the evening - collaboration and knowledge sharing, as well as previewing some highlights of the upcoming Series.

2022 Structural Concrete Student Competition winners announced

18 Aug 2022

The Concrete Centre’s annual student Structural Concrete competition, in partnership with Laing O’Rourke, has been won by Sara Edgar, Naomi Stanton and Christopher Walsh from Queen’s University, Belfast. The 2022 competition challenge for teams of engineering students was to design a school building within an existing school development in the suburbs of a large UK city.