Red square, blue circle, yellow triangle: The sequence can be traced back to the color and shape theory of the Bauhaus artist Wassily Kandinsky. Grellroth, a novelty concrete producer in Krefeld, Germany, adopts the artist’s style in the design of bee hotels it casts from self-consolidating concrete mixes, dosed with weather-stable Lanxess inorganic pigments.
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A global player in glass fiber reinforced concrete facade systems, Austria’s Rieder Group, has helped Vienna architect Franz&Sue put a new face on a 19th century courthouse. GFRC cladding equipped the architect to create “an open space of encounter” and relieve the Salzburg courthouse of “authoritarian character,” an aesthetic owing to the original designer’s charge to communicate state power. Sustainability and a sensitivity to the needs of groups associated with the courthouse transformation were overriding project themes.
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A new barrel storage facility in Finland for the world’s northernmost gin and whisky distillery appears at first glance to be clad in old, charred wooden planks. In reality, the Kyrö Distillery Co. building facade is textured concrete with a jet-black Bayferrox pigment.
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A precast artificial reef concept, Sulu-Reef Prosthesis (SRP), elevates the practice of using new or recycled concrete in restoration or expansion of coral reefs, which are credited with providing habitats and shelter for about 25 percent of global marine life.
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A new 366-ft. pedestrian crossing at Villanova University, near Philadelphia, took top Transportation: Best Non-Highway Bridge honors in the Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute 2020 Design Awards program.
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The American Shotcrete Association recognized six winning projects and three honorable mentions through its annual Outstanding Shotcrete Project Awards program. The recipients confirm and demonstrate the advantages of utilizing shotcrete as an alternative or companion to conventional cast-in-place or precast concrete.
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The Interlocking Concrete Pavement Institute’s 2019 Hardscape North America awards program recognized 18 winning and 19 honorable mention projects late last year during the Hardscape North America trade show at the Kentucky Exposition Center in Louisville. The program honors top residential and commercial hardscaping designs for walkways, patios, pool decks, outdoor living kitchens and living spaces, and driveways as well as commercial plazas and streets.
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Canobie Lake Park, a hand-built amusement venue in Salem, N.H., opened to the public in 1902 as a trolley park. The original visitor experience featured botanical gardens, a penny arcade, and a few early amusement rides. A wooden roller coaster named the Yankee Cannonball, built in 1936, still draws crowds 83-plus years later. In 1958, Canobie Lake Park was purchased by three close friends from New Jersey who decided to take on the challenge of renovating and revitalizing it themselves.
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Philadelphia Phillies Urban Youth Academy participants now have a feel for what it is like to be a professional ballplayer, thanks to new precast dugouts and press box at the historic FDR Park. Easi-Set Buildings were selected for the three structures because of their affordability, durability, and aesthetics. Oldcastle Infrastructure Inc., an Easi-Set licensed producer, manufactured the prefabricated buildings at its Easton, Pa. plant.
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Among the winners of the 2019 American Architecture Awards is a 170-ft.-long pedestrian bridge in Lone Tree, Colo. that features a segmental retaining wall abutment and cast-in-place landing and stairs. Denver-based Slaton Bros. Inc. installed the split-face mechanically stabilized earth wall with integral color on the south side approach of the bridge to blend in with its natural surroundings.
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