Editor’s choice: concrete
David Ponting and Matt Fitzgerald of Ponting Fitzgerald designed this in-situ concrete Westmere home in Auckland. Built by Bannan Construction, it is described as ‘highly sculptural’.
Queenstown home, by Ponting Fitzgerald with Nicoll Thomson Builders. Built in 2015. The woven in-situ concrete wall illustrates the diversity of the material.
Queenstown home. A large skylight, cut through the concrete and earth above, allows natural light to penetrate into the interior of the house.
Queenstown home. The palette of this stunning house includes polished and board-formed concrete, stone, glass and water to create structural and aesthetic beauty.
This Herne Bay home was built by Daniel Marshall in 2014. The architect calls it an ‘unravelled villa’.
Herne Bay House, by Daniel Marshall. A series of precast concrete louvres act in a similar way to a front porch, interfacing with the street but still allowing for privacy within.
Herne Bay House, Daniel Marshall Architects. The dining area is punctuated by a concrete wall on one side and a glazed well on the other.
The Fendalton House in Christchurch. Built by Sheppard & Rout in 2012. The strength of the concrete plays off against the warmth of the wood.
Fendalton House by Sheppard & Rout. The two sections of the house are separated by a raw and rough double-height in-situ concrete spine.
Fendalton House, Christchurch. Concrete features heavily throughout both the exterior and the interior of the home.
Geyser building, Auckland. Patterson Associates designed this suite of boutique office buildings in 2004, however it wasn’t built until 2012.
Geyser, Parnell by Pattersons. A concrete and glass office/retail complex with strong vertical forms, which is also NZ’s first 6 Green Star – Office Design rated building.
Geyser, Auckland. Made up of five individual buildings, each one is wrapped in a unique twin-skin façade, interspersed with GRC glass (fibreglass) reinforced concrete panels.
Tennant + Brown Architects designed Nga Purapura, the Wananga of Fitness facility for Te Wananga o Raukawa, Ōtaki in 2012.
Nga Purapura. Students created the kaupapa designs that have been sandblasted into the external concrete sports hall walls.
Nga Purapura. On the sports court, acoustic panels on the concrete walls mimic the Poutama tukutuku design, a stepped pattern which symbolises climbing for knowledge.
Westmere home by Ponting Fitzgerald. Seven massive in-situ concrete walls stand as monoliths. The outdoor area features a waterfall pool, fireplace and glass cabana.
Westmere home. The living room features the largest concrete wall of all. At 11 metres long and 4.5 metres high, it houses the fireplace and runs through to the outside deck.
Christchurch Civic Building, built by Athfield Architects in 2010. On the southern façade, half the concrete panels have been removed and replaced with windows.
Christchurch Civic Building by Athfield Architects. Exposed concrete ceilings contrast with Knot, a shimmering and ever-changing work by artist Julia Morison.
Christchurch Civic Building. Muted colours merge with reminders of the building’s industrial past: the raw concrete is left with pencil marks and drill holes.
The Heydar Aliyev Center is situated in Baku, Azerbaijan and was built by Zaha Hadid Architects in 2013. It was designed to express Azeri culture and optimism for the future.
Heydar Aliyev Center: Zaha Hadid. The project uses Glass Fibre Reinforced Concrete (GFRC) panels to create the impressive undulating free form walls that rise seamlessly from the plaza.
Interior shot of the Heydar Aliyev Centre. A concrete structure was combined with a steel space frame to create the elaborate geometries of the building.
This home in central Tokyo, Japan was designed by Atelier Tekuto. Volcanic ash is mixed into the concrete shell of the angular house, for increased strength and durability.
Tokyo home by Atelier Tekuto. The raw concrete structure is left exposed across exterior and interior, where it is paired with a mixture of dark and light timber fittings.
Tokyo home by Atelier Tekuto. A flight of concrete steps leads up the front of the house to the entrance level, where there is a traditional Japanese room and a bathroom.
Santa María de los Caballeros Chapel in Bogota, Colombia was built by architects MGP Arquitectura y Urbanismo in 2013.
Santa María de los Caballeros Chapel, Colombia by MGP Arquitectura y Urbanismo. The water symbolizes baptism and the large slabs of concrete add a weightiness suitable for a religious institution.
The Santa María de los Caballeros Chapel in Bogota, Colombia combines concrete with wood and glass to create a striking, solid presence.
As a building material, concrete has been with us for thousands of years, with the ancient Romans using concrete technology to construct large-scale projects such as the Colosseum and the Pantheon in Rome, and a range of bridges and aqueducts. After the fall of the Roman Empire, concrete usage became rare until the 18th century, when the technology was redeveloped.
Today, concrete is the most widely-used man-made material in construction. Concrete offers architects and builders a range of benefits. Design versatility can be achieved easily with the use of concrete for floors, walls, columns and cladding. It is possible to create moulded shapes, textures and patterns and a range of decorative surface finishes.
Concrete can suit a variety of purposes, as new technology ensures that there are many different types available, along with a diverse range of compositions, finishes and performance characteristics.
One of the most durable and long-lasting building materials, concrete provides superior fire resistance compared with wooden construction and its thermal mass makes it energy efficient, reducing temperature swings inside a building and minimizing heating and cooling costs, as part of passive solar design. Pervious concrete, when used for driveways, sidewalks, and other pavements, can help to retain stormwater runoff and replenish local water supplies.
Cast in-situ concrete has become a material that designers exploit for its structural qualities, as David Ponting of Ponting Fitzgerald illustrates with the usage of the material in many of his high end homes. He comments, “It is the inherent design flexibility, durability and raw material honesty that immediately appeal with using in-situ concrete. These qualities lead to buildings with emotive sculptural drama, longevity and soul.”
See images below and the slideshow above for a range of projects from New Zealand and overseas that utilise concrete to its best ability. Follow the links under each image for more information on the building.
