A few Concrete Facts...Trend Inspiration

As someone who prefers natural materials to man made, wood, leather, cotton etc.. concrete was not a material that I would instantly consider for inside the home, however I noticed over the past couple of years or so that Concrete is a material that is being increasing used in interiors and design...and increasing being used outside the home too.

You would have thought living in Derbyshire as I do I would have realized that concrete can have sustainable credentials with all the cement works and limestone crags that are dotted on the landscape it never crossed my mind!... limestone is the predominant raw material for the cement in concrete and is said to be  the most abundant mineral on earth. Concrete can also be made with fly ash, slag cement, and silica fume, all waste byproducts from power plants, steel mills, and other manufacturing facilities.

Here are a few Concrete facts that I found from my research...Firstly it's not new!
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• Concrete can be traced back to the Romans who used it for various projects including the building of the Pantheon, the dome of which is still the worlds largest un-reinforced concrete dome. The Egyptians are said to have used it in the building of the Pyramids and the Chinese in the building of the Great Wall of China.
• As a building material it works really well, having the ability to be poured into place as liquid before setting to a solid mass like rock. Brutalist buildings such as the Grade II listed buildings of Park Hill Flats in Sheffield, built in the 1950's are a good example of how this product was used to create concrete streets in the sky...

• And whilst concrete is often associated with Modernist Architecture, back in the 1920's artists such as the Sculptor Henry Moore experimented with this medium, creating 21 of his sculptures from this material which can be modelled, carved and cast.
• It is not only Artists and Architects that see the benefits of this material, in the past concrete has been used to make ships...yes, it's true!.... however, today concrete is seeing a resurrengence as a material for use in interiors; highly polished worktops look great in concrete, as do unadorned walls in the right setting... Concrete lighting fittings can look fantastic... but if all that's a bit much you could have a contemporary concrete planter, which would look good in any home...
• And if all that has made you to consider concrete in your next project you might find a little concrete inspiration here...