Precast Concrete

Perhaps it was a throwback to his old “smoking in the boy’s room” days but a homeowner in Zurich, Switzerland, yearned to have his own private smoking pavilion in his backyard. Instead of a crowded room filled with rule-breaking teenagers, he wanted a quiet, relaxing place where he could sit back and smoke.

A white concrete extension of precast panels added onto an apartment in the city of Innsbruck, Austria, has revitalized a century-old building.

Hundreds of people showed up to witness the dedication of the Veterans Monument at Ken-Caryl Ranch in Ken Caryl, Colorado, which was officially presented to the community just in time for Veterans Day 2015.

Curiosity: Stay eternally curious about better methods, collaborative opportunities and advances in sustainability.
Artistry: Remember that concrete is an artisan’s canvas.
Innovation: Employ state-of-the-art techniques to achieve a very dense and reliable concrete product.

A brilliant white concrete pavilion sits proudly on the grounds of a popular tourist destination in Merida, Yucatan, Mexico. The pavilion frames three sides of a paved courtyard at La Quinta Montes Molina — a historic early-20th century mansion in Merida that now serves as a museum and venue for social events in the garden.

Here, the Concrete Decor staff shares its top 10 favorite out-of-the-ordinary concrete creations that were featured or almost featured in the past 99 issues. The thin-shell pavilion and fabric-formed planter tied for first place, while the faux bois sconce and slippers tied for second.

Architect Michael Arad, along with landscape architect Peter Walker, designed the memorial to honor the nearly 3,000 people who lost their lives in the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks at the World Trade Center, at the Pentagon and in a field near Shanksville, Pa. The memorial also honors the six people killed in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.

As graceful as an acrobatic touchdown catch by Danny Abramowicz. As stunning as a Mel Blount goal-line interception. More sweeping than a Vida Blue curveball.

Once you have successfully cast your parts and finished them completely, you are ready to install your cast concrete range hood.

Structures like these - with a smooth, weathered surface and a nature-inspired pattern, cast in relief - have the power to turn unused sidewalk space into a lush roadside minipark.

Ken Tucker, a resourceful contractor solves a potential color problem with a new process - turning tilt-up concrete panels upside down.

Sisters Cindee Lundin and Chenoa Pickrain were raised on a dairy farm near Perham, Minnesota. Lundin is an expert in faux finishing and horizontal and vertical carved concrete. Pickrain is a graphic designer and photographer.

Jenkins offered a rock bench as a gesture of friendship, but the biologist wouldn’t accept it without his wife’s approval. Turns out, the wife desired a bench in the shape of a whale’s tail.

After an afternoon spent walking around the Rocketown campus, Jason Geiser and his team saw a great opportunity to not only enhance the area but also showcase the unlimited possibilities of concrete.

Buildings don’t often sparkle like jewelry, but in the case of the chiller plant on the Ohio State University campus, it does just that, thanks to a highly polished RetroPlate finish and the application of dichroic glass.

For contractors who want a rock finish on the exterior of an ICF structure, M a variety of panelized stone veneer systems and interlocking structural insulated home-building panel systems are available.

Glass-fiber reinforced concrete (GFRC) lets you explore many aspects of design that are not possible with the more traditional precast methods. While GFRC is often used for countertops, we’ll delve into how it can be used to construct a GFRC base for an outdoor patio table.

Tamara Gilgenast combines passion and a veteran’s discipline and attention to detail to create works of art in concrete. Though she only started her business about four years ago after discovering The Ashby System, she already has an extensive portfolio.

A beam is a horizontal structural member that spans some open space and is supported near the ends. The beam can then support some weight placed on top of it somewhere between the end supports. A floor joist is a beam. Concrete countertops are also beams.

Nolan King, owner of King Architectural Concrete and Construction LLC in River Falls, Wisconsin, started his own construction business at the age of 23 after graduating from college in 2001 with an engineering degree. His business focused primarily on home remodeling work.

Most decorative concrete artisans don’t submit their work into juried art shows, but that’s the world that Thomas Lancaster is trying to ease into.

Reinforce your knowledge and make structurally strong concrete countertops.

We ate. We drank. We told the truth and lied, and then admitted that we had lied. We laughed. We talked business. We talked wives. We talked ex-wives. We cried, but just a little.