Archinect - News

UK museums report new Raac concrete investigations as safety concerns spread

2023-11-09T14:01:00-05:00

The issue of unsafe concrete panels in the aging structures in the UK is affecting museums and cultural institutions who now report conducting their own building safety investigations after a spate of school closures linked to the issue first stirred controversy in August.

A report compiled by The Art Newspaper details efforts on the part of the Southbank Centre, Royal Academy of Arts, and others to document and deinstall reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (or Raac) panels that have been proven to be susceptible to water damage and structural failures.

No use of the materials had been discovered in the Barbican Centre, Victoria and Albert Museum, British Museum, or newly renovated National Galleries Scotland, all four institutions independently confirmed.

Twentieth Century Society Director Catherine Croft told the publication: “There is an urgent need to understand where Raac was used, to examine whether or not it is now failing in each case, and then work out how best to repa...

Efforts to reduce concrete carbon emissions grow

2020-08-13T15:03:00-04:00

In recent decades, architects, developers and policymakers seeking to lower the carbon footprint of buildings have focused on reducing energy use by improving the efficiency of lighting, heating and other systems. To lower emissions even further, they are looking beyond such operational matters to the carbon emitted in the production and transportation of the materials that make up the structures, or so-called embodied carbon.

Jane Margolies of The New York Times surveys advances in concrete decarbonization strategies, highlighting a set of concrete manufacturers that are using novel additives and different concrete recipes to save on carbon emissions.

Margolies takes a look at LafargeHolcim, Solidia Technologies, BioMason, Blue Planet, and CarbonCure Technologies, the latter of which is working to reduce concrete-related carbon emissions at the new 245,000-square-foot LinkedIn headquarters designed by STUDIOS Architecture in Mountain View, California by up to seven percent.

Florida bridge in danger of "imminent collapse"

2020-06-17T20:44:00-04:00

The United States Coast Guard is warning that a concrete bridge in Stuart, Florida is "at risk of imminent collapse."

CNN reports that the Roosevelt Bridge is currently closed for repairs after large structural cracks were discovered along the causeway's southbound span. The bridge, according to the report, was built 24 years ago and connects the town of Stuart with communities located to the north. The bridge spans over the St. Lucie River.

The Florida bridge is the latest span to suffer from troubling structural issues and follows the collapse of a pedestrian bridge at Florida International Unviersity in 2018. Forensic research teams deduced in 2019 that the bridge's collapse was due in part to a flawed design and less than necessary construction oversight.

Researchers propose concrete mixed with plastic for India's rapid construction

2018-09-19T16:28:00-04:00

Researchers say India could alleviate its growing shortage of sand, which is needed for concrete, by partially replacing it with waste plastic. Research carried out by the University of Bath in the UK, and India’s Goa Engineering College, has found that concrete made with an admixture of ground-up plastic bottles is almost as strong as traditional concrete mixtures.

With India's rapid urbanization, concrete construction has dramatically increased causing a shortage in the country's sand used to make the building material. Mixing in plastic bottles focuses on solving both the issue of a sand shortage and the accumulation plastic waste on the streets. While the plastic added material is not as strong as concrete, it could still be used for lower tech functions such as paving slabs.

MIT's mass timber longhouse is more sustainable than concrete

2018-07-23T15:15:00-04:00

Changing the mindset behind short-term wooden constructions is MIT. A group of researchers at the university are leading an initiative to investigate new mass timber designs- wood-based buildings designed to be more efficient and cheaper than, yet just as durable as, concrete and steel buildings. The team proposes building mass timber longhouses - large wooden engineered houses built from massive pieces of timber.

Mass Timber Design, MIT's architecture workshop exploring sustainable building design at the intersection of architecture and technology, has developed a Longhouse prototype. Mass timber, a wood-based building design and construction technology, has continued to be explored for its sustainability over other materials such as concrete.

The Longhouse prototype by MIT's Mass Timber Design Workshop. Image: MIT.

A major environmental concern, concrete production accounts for about 5 percent of global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions alone.

The Longhouse prototype by MIT's Mass Timber Design Workshop. Image: MIT.

The Longhouse draws on its historical background serving as a multi-functional building designed for shared communal space.

The Longhouse prototype by MIT's Mass Timber Design Workshop. Image: MIT.

The structure consists of a series of timber laminated veneer lumber (LVL) arches spanning across the building’s shorter dimension.

The Longhouse prototype by MIT's Mass Timber Design Wo...

The mystery of how Roman concrete has withstood the sea for millennia is finally solved

2017-07-06T13:09:00-04:00

Modern, steel-embedded concrete seawalls tend to need repair after a few decades of erosion from the endless procession of waves, but the Roman pier at Portus Cosanus in Orbetello, Italy has remained solid for almost two thousand years. Scientists have finally figured out the missing ingredient of this material's longevity, and it turns out to be mineral growth after the concrete has set.

Ancient Roman Seawall at Portus Cosanus in Orbetello. Image: Wikimapia

This concept of concrete that grows after it has been set is something that others have been experimenting with recently, but The Telegraph breaks this new discovery down thusly:

Roman engineers made concrete by mixing volcanic ash with lime and seawater to make a mortar, and then added chunks of volcanic rock. The combination of ash, water, and lime produces what is called a pozzolanic reaction, named after the city of Pozzuoli in the Bay of Naples, triggering the formation of crystals in the gaps of the mixture as it sets.

Th...

Getty awards over $1.75 million to fix crappy concrete in "Important Modern Buildings"

2015-06-24T13:58:00-04:00

"Modern architecture is a defining artistic form of the 20th century at considerable risk, often due to the cutting-edge building materials that characterized the movement." -Deborah Marrow

In news that will surely make Prince Charles sigh with displeasure, the Getty Foundation announced it is awarding $1.75 million of grants to help preserve 14 structures in the modern style, including Frank Lloyd Wright’s Unity Temple, Walter Gropius’ residence ‘The Gropius House,’ and the Rietveld Schröder House. This is the second year the foundation has awarded the grants, and has chosen the buildings because (ironically) concrete as a building material has proven to be less than solid. “The use of concrete, while visually striking and radical for its time, has created a unique set of challenges for conserving some of the world’s most important modernist structures,” noted Antoine Wilmering, a senior program officer at the Getty Foundation. “Our new grants offer an excellent opportunity to advance research and conservation practices for this material. The accumulated knowledge that will result from the projects will be of tremendous benefit to the field.”

While the first year's gra...