CONCRETE

QUARTERLY
WINTER 2023 | ISSUE NUMBER 285

CHARITY APPEAL  SHORE THING  POWER OF THREE 

TateHindle preaches Waste seashells offer a How to specify lower-
lean design at the permeable path forward for carbon multicomponent
Salvation Army HQ flood-prone coastal areas cements using BS 8500
 CONTENTS

Sandblast from the past:

Mad arkitekter retrofits Erling
Viksjø’s naturbetong Health
Council building in Oslo
P30
 CONTENTS

CASTING OFF
4 LEADER 

6 INNOVATION 
Unleashing seashells’ potential as permeable aggregate

10 LASTING IMPRESSION 
Adrian James selects a few of concrete’s many personalities

13 ORIGIN STORY 
How to dismantle a car park and turn it into social housing

INSPIRATION
16 SALVATION ARMY, LONDON 
TateHindle’s material-efficient HQ adds sustainability
to the charity’s “soup, soap, salvation” mantra

28 RHODES HOUSE, OXFORD 

30 TREKANTBLOKKA, OSLO 

31 CAST HOUSE, LONDON 

APPLICATION
32 SPECIFYING LOWER-CARBON
CONCRETE USING BS 8500 
How the updated standard could potentially reduce
the UK’s annual carbon footprint by 1 million tonnes
 CASTING OFF | LEADER

Repeat with variation

It always makes me smile when I see adverts for really
expensive bars of soap as the height of sustainability and
a new solution to plastic packaging – no need for a bottle!
I can just imagine my grandma’s unimpressed reaction.
There is undoubtedly value in looking backwards as well
as forwards, especially in the context of a construction
industry that is evolving in response to climate change.
That’s what comes to mind when I look through this
issue of CQ. The gorgeous “naturbetong” casting process
patented by Norwegian architect Erling Viksjø features
not only in our From the Archive slot (page 12), but
Elaine Toogood also as the star of the newly refurbished Health Council
Director, architecture
building in Oslo (page 30). A finish characteristic of
and sustainable
design, The Concrete 1960s Scandinavian modernism chimes with the current
Centre trend for embracing concrete’s natural, of-the-earth
appearance – we are once again receiving a growing
number of enquiries from specifiers looking for ways of
revealing the aggregate and celebrating the uniqueness
of each pour.
The concrete industry is continually developing new
products and ways to build with them – from the use
of seashells in permeable surfaces on page 6 to the
lower-carbon multicomponent cements now included
in the BS 8500 standard (page 32) – but we can still
find inspiration and some very useful ideas by looking at
how concrete was used in the past, in eras with different
priorities and constraints.
There are many old or forgotten techniques that
have new relevance in the contexts of sustainability
and material efficiency. Researchers are uncovering
the secrets of Roman concrete’s strength, and reviving

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 CASTING OFF | LEADER

the material-efficient thin-shell

structures of mid-century projects.
The methods used back then might
THERE ARE MANY
be too labour-intensive to work OLD OR FORGOTTEN
today, but we can take advantage of TECHNIQUES THAT
new manufacturing technologies to HAVE NEW RELEVANCE
make them viable again. Sometimes IN THE CONTEXTS OF
there are no technical barriers to a SUSTAINABILITY AND
particular material or method – it’s MATERIAL EFFICIENCY
the wider industry context that
makes something unworkable,
whether that’s standards or cost or availability or skill.
But that can change: conditions shift again, recreating
the situation where a solution can work. It’s almost as
if nothing’s impossible, as long as there’s a real desire
to get there.
This is what we can see happening right now across
the built environment, with the impetus provided
by the net-zero agenda – we have a clear target and
we all have a role to play to achieve it, whether that’s
through technical innovation or market evolution, or just
remaining abreast of all the new lower-carbon products
that are coming through research and development and
reaching the mainstream. It’s deeply heartening to
see what we can accomplish when everyone comes
together, collaborating to seize opportunities and drive
things forwards. But I’m happy too that, in pursuit of
the best options, designers aren’t afraid to go back and
reclaim the past.

Concrete Quarterly is published by Editing and production:

The Concrete Centre, part of the Wordmule
Mineral Products Association.
Design: Nick Watts Design
[Link]
On the cover:
Salvation Army headquarters,
south London, by TateHindle.
Photo by Jack Hobhouse

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 CASTING OFF | INNOVATION

Photos: Paul Burroughs

INNOVATION The seafood industry produces
surprisingly large quantities of
waste shells – some 30,000 tonnes
CIRCLE of scallop, cockle and whelk shells
in the UK alone every year. While

PERMEABLE the majority end up in landfill,

some simply accumulate outside

CONCRETE processing plants where they form

mountainous shell “slag heaps”. It is
an under-appreciated problem, but
CRUSHED WASTE SEASHELLS CAN BE USED AS
AGGREGATE TO CREATE PERMEABLE CONCRETE one for which there may soon be
SURFACES – AN INGENIOUS, LOCAL SOLUTION a solution thanks to new concrete
FOR FLOOD-PRONE COASTAL AREAS
technology.
“We can use shells to replace up to
20% of the aggregate in concrete,”
explains Professor Karl Williams,
ABOVE
Professor Karl Williams (left) and Dr director of the Centre for Waste
Emmanuel Anike (right) hold the raw and Resource Management at the
materials of their permeable concrete University of Central Lancashire
at the trial project in Blackpool (UCLan). “Shells are basically calcium

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 CASTING OFF | INNOVATION

LEFT
The mix produces a low-load surface,
suitable for footpaths, cycle paths
and car parks

carbonate and, when crushed and

put into a concrete mix, they behave
much like limestone. They are inert,
but bind well with cement.”
Better still, says Williams, the
curved shape of shell fragments can
create the small voids that make
permeable concrete. UCLan has now
laid a 50m2 trial area of permeable
shell-concrete in a community
garden in Blackpool, working with
local arts organisation LeftCoast.
“The technology was first
investigated by French researchers
at the BUILDERS École d’ingénieurs,
and they originally looked at making
permeable concrete paving slabs,”
says Williams. “The CIRCLE project
developed a ready-mix concrete
material based on formulations
developed at UCLan, and we
continue to work closely with them.
Our Blackpool trial has made use of
local shells from Fleetwood and has
been laid in-situ.”
The mix has been designed to
produce a low-load surface, suitable
WHEN CRUSHED
for footpaths, cycle paths and car
AND PUT INTO A parks – applications where its
CONCRETE MIX, SHELLS permeable nature can reduce the
BEHAVE MUCH LIKE risk of puddles and flooding without
LIMESTONE. THEY ARE expensive drainage systems. To help
INERT, BUT BIND WELL form the voids that allow water to
drain through, there is no sand in the
WITH CEMENT
mix, and 20% of the aggregate has
been replaced by whelk and scallop
shells that have been crushed
and sieved to produce 2-4mm

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fragments. “In laboratory tests it has performed well ABOVE

above the current drainage levels required for permeable Williams and Anike at the community
concrete and better than many similar existing products,” garden with members of local arts
says Williams. “At Blackpool, we have laid a 150mm layer company LeftCoast: Helen Jones
(left), Abigail Gillibrand (centre) and
above a 150mm sub base. It will be exciting to see how
Catherine Peters (second from right)
it works in practice and how, for example, it copes with
seedlings and encroaching vegetation.”
More work needs to be done, however: “We want to
optimise the crushing to reduce waste, and also to
continue looking at how different shell combinations
perform. For example, we cannot use mussel shells
because they have a laminate structure that tends to
splinter and form shapes that don’t work well in a mix.
Seasonal supply is also an issue. Some shells are only
available when there isn’t an ‘R’ in the month!”
Replacing aggregate with shells brings a number of
benefits. “Most obviously it finds a permanent place for
this material, reduces waste to landfill and the need for
virgin aggregate,” says Williams. “But there are carbon
savings too, resulting from reduced aggregate extraction

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LEFT
Scallop (left) and whelk (right) shells
have been crushed and sieved to
produce 2-4mm fragments

and potentially also reduced

transport to landfill.”
There is further scope to cut
carbon, adds Dr Emmanuel Anike,
senior product developer and
concrete materials specialist
at UCLan. “For example, we are
investigating lower-intensity
cements to reduce the footprint of
the concrete even more,” he says.
If the shell-aggregate is
transported more than 80km from
where it arises, much of the carbon
benefit is lost. But, says Williams,
waste shells tend to arise near the
coast. “These are usually lowland
areas, often prone to flooding.
Permeable concrete can help with
that – so we see shells in concrete
very much as a local solution to a
local problem. In any case, as we
reduce waste and optimise our shell
mixes, that 80km figure should
extend quite a bit.”
A total of six organisations have
come together to help develop
the shell-based concrete. Known
IT WILL BE EXCITING TO
as the Circle Project, it comprises
SEE HOW IT WORKS IN BUILDERS École d’ingénieurs,
PRACTICE AND HOW, EQIOM Bétons, the Communauté
FOR EXAMPLE, IT COPES d’Agglomération des 2 Baies en
WITH SEEDLINGS Montreuillois (CA2BM), UCLan,
AND ENCROACHING the University of East Anglia, and
the Golfe du Morbihan – Vannes
VEGETATION
agglomération (GMVA). It is funded
through the EU’s Interreg VA France
(Channel) England programme.
Interview by Tony Whitehead

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 CASTING OFF | LASTING IMPRESSION

LASTING
IMPRESSION

ADRIAN
JAMES
THREE SIDES OF CONCRETE FROM THREE
CORNERS OF THE WORLD – BRUTALLY
HONEST IN INDIA, PROVOCATIVELY
ARTIFICIAL IN TEXAS, AND POLITELY
REFINED IN OXFORD

I was lucky enough to get to

Chandigarh in the mid-1980s
before it was cut off to visitors
amid the Punjab insurgency. It
was an obvious place of pilgrimage
for a young architect. Universities
didn’t place a huge emphasis on
materials at that time, so to see
this monumental urban set-piece
of raw concrete left a real impact on
me. Le Corbusier’s Capitol Complex
is as brutish as you can get – just
really rough, expressive concrete
cast against standard sheet metal.
It’s like a kind of inhabited ruin. The

Photo: Nathan Willock-VIEW / Alamy Stock Photo

masterplan originally conceived
a city of 500,000 people but the
housing is not so successful. You feel
like the city will come into its own
in 500 years when you can just see
the bones of the Corbusier buildings
– like an Italian town where the
inhabitants have built between the
remains of an amphitheatre.
In the 1990s, I got to see concrete
from a completely different
perspective, when I worked for John
ABOVE
Outram on at Rice University in Capitol Complex,
Texas. For John, concrete was more Chandigarh, by
a medium for conveying a message, Le Corbusier, 1951-57

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 CASTING OFF | LASTING IMPRESSION

a blank canvas to be manipulated. BELOW BOTTOM

He exploited the material’s plasticity, Anne and Charles Garden Quad,
introduced pigments and created Duncan Hall at Rice St John’s College,
University, designed Oxford, by
the terrazzo-like Blitzcrete. It was
by John Outram, MacCormac Jamieson
the perfect material to express 1997 Prichard, 1994
the iconography of his wildly
imaginative world – all these things
he wanted to say about the history
of architecture. I know many people
find his buildings too much, but they
have a real presence and a lot of that
stems from the concrete. Whereas a
lot of postmodern architecture feels
paper-thin, like a stage set, these
are incredibly massive and powerful
buildings.
I live and work in Oxford, which is
a brilliant place if you’re a concrete
afficionado. Powell and Moya’s work
in the 1960s offers some wonderful
combinations of exposed concrete
and Portland stone, and Arne
Jacobsen’s St Catherine’s College
similarly fuses concrete and brick
to great effect. More recently, Níall
McLaughlin’s Master’s Field buildings
for Balliol College has these
extraordinarily intricate precast
panels, like a woven lattice.
One of my favourite buildings is
Richard MacCormac’s Garden Quad
at St John’s College. In some ways,
Photos: Serhii Chrucky; Archimage / Alamy Stock Photo

it bridges the gap between raw,

brutalist concrete and the way that
postmodernists like Outram used
the material. It harnesses a number
of historic allusions, but in a way
that makes functional sense. The
domed interiors of the conference
hall and lecture rooms, which
emerge into the quad as oculus
windows, are a reference to Sir John
Soane’s Bank of England, beautifully
reinterpreted in precast concrete.
Adrian James is managing director
of Adrian James Architects

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 CASTING OFF | ARCHIVE

From the archive: Spring 1960

SCRATCHING THE SURFACE

Naturbetong, the casting process patented by Norwegian

architect Erling Viksjø (see page 30), first came to the
attention of CQ in 1960. With Corbusian fervour sweeping
the architectural fraternity, the magazine thought Viksjo’s
more uniform and decorative method might offer a more
acceptable form of modernism for those who found
brutalism “a trifle too brut for their liking”.
The key was the enticing combination of raw, honest
structural material and sandblasting, which could cut
through the Naturbetong’s soft outer layer of mortar to
create abstract patterns. “The sandblasting instrument, in
the hands of the right person, has as many possibilities as
the pencil or graver in the hands of the artist and is a great
deal more than a mere builder’s tool,” wrote CQ. “In fact,
this method should at last provide a common ground on
which artist and architect can meet.”
By way of example, the magazine highlighted Viksjøs
Bakkehaugen church in Oslo. In form, the simple triangular
building was little more than a steeply pitched, sharply
folded roof slab. But inside, the effect was both mysterious
and primitive. The decorative scheme, noted CQ, relied
solely on the concrete surfaces for its effect. “A narrow
ribbed pattern covers much of the soffit, emphasizing the
triangular shape of the building. The four apostles appear
on the surfaces flanking the altar – two on each side – and
are represented as striking simplified figures extending
from the floor to the apex of the triangle, where they are
crowned by halos and two points of natural light.”
The altar, font and lectern were all simple Naturbetong
forms that relied on their richly textured surfaces for
interest. A cross, similarly treated, projects from the wall
behind the altar, “attention focused on to it by sweeping
draped curves etched into the wall”. And at the back of the
church, a Madonna is portrayed tending a manger made
up of large coloured aggregate, “polished to the richness of
precious stones”.

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 CASTING OFF | ORIGIN STORY

In pursuit of a circular economy,

designers are increasingly looking
for ways to reuse the structural
elements of a building. But how
do you design something when its
constituent parts are still part of
another building on a different site?
It starts with a catalogue. At least,
this was the experience of Swiss
architect Parabase when it entered
the international open competition
run by the city of Basel for 120
affordable homes and an integration
centre for migrants. “With the brief,
the city provided a catalogue of
demolition components that we
could reuse,” says Pablo Garrido
Arnaiz, partner at Parabase, which is
now preparing to build its winning
entry. “Everyone had the same
information, but I think we were
somehow the ones who made most
use of the different pieces.”
Most of the elements will be taken
from the nearby Lysbüchel car
ORIGIN STORY park, earmarked for demolition in
2024. Circular planning consultant
and “component hunter” Zirkular
ELEMENTA, made an inventory of more than
60 building parts, categorized into

BASEL structure, surfaces and fixtures, and

covering everything from ribbed
slabs to urinals. Each entry included
PARABASE’S PIONEERING CIRCULAR SOCIAL
HOUSING SCHEME BEGAN WITH A CATALOGUE an extensive factsheet, showing
OF COMPONENTS FROM A SOON-TO-BE- dimensions, weight, number of
DEMOLISHED CAR PARK. BY NICK JONES
available pieces, and links to plans,
sections, photographs, original
reinforcement drawings and any
other data. For structural elements,
Photo and CGIs: Parabase

test sections were removed for

analysis and testing at the EPFL
technical university in Lausanne,
enabling strength characteristics to
be included in the catalogue.

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Zirkular also calculated an

embodied carbon saving for
each component, which allowed
the designers to quickly assess
the reduced footprint of their
proposals. Parabase’s scheme,
known as Elementa, will reuse 2,680
components from the car park and
other catalogued sites, saving the
equivalent of 1,088,082kg/CO2.
Parabase came up with two
housing types, using different
catalogued items from the car park
as loadbearing structure. A four-
storey block repurposes columns
and beams as an external frame,
integrated with new concrete
elements to make a grid and floor
height suitable for housing. Recycled
corrugated metal becomes the outer
layer of the facade. The other three-
storey housing type uses ribbed floor
slabs as a loadbearing external wall,
stacked vertically then horizontally
like a brutalist Stonehenge.
As architecture, it’s about
establishing a set of constraints and
prioritising these above aesthetics,
says Arnaiz, citing Jean Nouvel’s
Nemausus social housing in Nimes
(1987) as a precedent. There, fixtures
such as metal stairs and outsized
garage doors were specified from
industrial catalogues to minimise
costs, while greater attention was
paid to space and layout.
At Elementa, an important element
of the design will be the connection
between old and new – details such
as brackets and beam edges. “It’s TOP ABOVE
Columns from the The columns will
not like a unified system where
car park will be connect to new-build
everything fits perfectly. These repurposed as part elements to make
elements have different dimensions, of the external frame the frame a suitable
use different materials, behave of one of Parabase’s height for housing
housing types (CGI)


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differently.” Internally, the homes will

have to adhere to strict design codes,
but he expects them to bear traces of
their unconventional heritage.
There is a lot of work to do before
the project reaches that stage, and
Parabase’s role extends far beyond
a traditional architectural brief. “We
also have to coordinate how the
car park is going to be dismantled,”
Arnaiz says. “We have to store the
pieces on our plot, which is a huge
logistical challenge. Already, at the
start of the process, you have to
know how you are going to build
your building.” Each element has
been given a QR code to help with
tracking, but the journey to their
final destination in the new building
has to be plotted with precision.
“Some of these pieces are five or
six tonnes, so if you need one that
you’ve stored at the bottom of a pile,
that’s not going to work. We already
know the position where they’ll be
stored, and even where the cranes
are going to be located.”
The architects are also working
closely with other consultants on a
legal framework to ensure a 40-year
design life for the buildings. “There
is no template or established way
of proceeding. Everything is new.”
Arnaiz points out that, even armed
with Zirkular’s factsheets, they are
introducing unknowns by changing
the use of precast elements – from
slab to wall, for example. “For some
of the concrete, the reinforcement
bars were allowed to be close to the ABOVE
The other three-
surface. So that is then an issue that
storey housing
we need to solve.” type uses ribbed
Disassembly of the car park will floor slabs as a
begin in April and the development loadbearing
is slated for completion in 2028. external wall (CGI)

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INSPIRATION | SALVATION ARMY

Photos: Jack Hobhouse

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INSPIRATION | SALVATION ARMY

NEW
MODEL
ARMY
High levels of GGBS
and a lean ribbed-slab
structure have helped
to reduced embodied
carbon by 30% at
Tatehindle’s admirably
restrained HQ for the
Salvation Army, writes
Tony Whitehead

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 INSPIRATION | SALVATION ARMY

ABOVE
The Salvation Army has always The new HQ has been built
maintained a firm focus on frontline next to Giles Gilbert Scott’s
existing William Booth
charity, holding fast to the “Soup, College, built in 1929

Soap and Salvation” mantra of its

founder, William Booth. So when
the organisation decided that a
new headquarters was essential,
it did so almost reluctantly, and
with a keen appreciation that its
supporters do not drop coins into
collecting boxes in the expectation
of funding a grand new building or
vanity project.

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“The client was very clear from the start,” says

THE CLIENT WANTED Jonathan Pinfield, associate with architect
THE FRAME TO HAVE A TateHindle. “They wanted a quality building
that would last, but absolutely they wanted
120-YEAR DESIGN LIFE cost efficiency.”
AND WE FOUND THAT The result is the SA’s new 5,100m2 HQ in
WAS MORE EASILY Denmark Hill, south London. Rated BREEAM
ACHIEVABLE WITH Excellent, it has been constructed next to the
CONCRETE existing William Booth College, built in 1929
and designed by Giles Gilbert Scott. The new
building comprises six floors of mainly open-
plan office accommodation, wrapped around a
central atrium.
“The massing and proportions were determined
partly by the fairly constrained site, but are also
BELOW
designed to pick up on those of the existing
The facade comprises college,” explains Pinfield. “One of our key
200mm-thick brick-faced precast challenges was to make those dimensions work
panels and cream-coloured glass-
reinforced concrete 

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ABOVE in a way that delivered the right user experience, but at a

Concrete staircases rise from floor price that would be acceptable. The choice of frame was
to floor, zig-zagging their way to central to this.”
the upper storeys (see box) The building has longish, 9m spans all round – the
natural distance from the exterior facades to the central
atrium which runs like a nave along the length of the
building. “We could have shortened these with extra
supports perhaps, but we didn’t want a forest of columns
obstructing the natural light from the external glazing
and the atrium. We looked in some detail into how we
could achieve those spans while bearing in mind the SA’s
concerns about cost.”
They examined both concrete and steel solutions, he
adds. “But the client wanted the frame to have a 120-year
design life and we found that was more easily achievable
with concrete. The steel option had issues with finishes
and headroom and, having checked with our QS, concrete
also came out cheaper. This was partly because leaving
concrete soffits and columns largely exposed saved
money on materials like plasterboard that would be

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needed to encase a steel frame.”

Having chosen concrete, the
challenge for the team was to come
up with a design for the spans that
was both sustainable and thrifty.
“It helped that we were working
with the owner-occupier from day
one,” says Jess Davies, associate at
structural engineer Davies Maguire.
“The SA were operating from a
number of different premises in
London which were coming to the
end of their usefulness, but when
exactly they left them was up to
them. It meant the programme was
not particularly tight.”
That gave Davies some leeway with
the slab: “We came up with the final
ribbed design after considering steel
and precast concrete solutions,” she
says. “It was a little slower, because
constructing the ribs with reinforced
concrete poured in situ takes time
compared with slotting in steel
or constructing thicker, simpler
slabs. But it’s worth it because
the design delivers a number of
important benefits.”
To span 9m, a flat slab would have
been unusually deep and heavy: “The
self-weight of the slab starts to get a bit much – you ABOVE
end up designing to support the slab, rather than any Timber slatting part-covers the
other loads. Using ribs releases the weight, uses less slab edges where they meet the
atrium space
concrete, lowers the embodied carbon involved, but
keeps the span.”
The design is repeated throughout the building, so
while the ground-floor slab is 350mm deep, those
above are just 100mm, supported by ribs 150mm wide
but 350mm deep, and typically spaced 530mm apart.
Ribs and slab are poured as one element, with the gaps
between ribs created using removable polystyrene forms.
This comparatively lightweight design reduced the
loadings for the whole building and this, in turn, means

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that the foundations are not as

extensive as they might have
been. As it is, these involve
a contiguous piled concrete
retaining wall (to cope with
the Denmark Hill site’s 5m
drop) and 137 bearing piles up
to 600mm in diameter. “But
a heavier frame would have
needed longer piles, adding
to the total concrete used,”
says Davies.
The mix itself was also
chosen with the carbon cost
of the building in mind. “It’s
fairly common to use 20-30%
cement substitute such as
GGBS,” says Davies. “But here
the concrete in the columns
and upper floor slabs had 50%
of the cement replaced with
GGBS. Again, it helped that the
programme was not too tight,
as the more GGBS, the longer
the strike times.”
Despite the generous
programme, the longer curing
times did prompt contractor
McLaren to split each floor
into six pours rather than the
planned four, to help maintain
progress on site. The efforts
to minimise embodied carbon
ABOVE have paid off, however: “We
The 50% GGBS mix lightens compared our solution with that of an equivalent steel
the tone of the concrete, frame with composite concrete and metal deck slabs, and
complementing the
found we were achieving a 30% saving on CO2 per square
spruce finishes
metre of floor space,” says Davies. “The ribbed design
accounted for most of that saving.”
Davies Maguire also looked in detail at the impact of
using GGBS as cement replacement: “Our final figure
for the building was 297kg of embodied CO2 per m2 –
which is 70kg less than if we had built the final ribbed

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design with a standard CEM I mix – that is, with

no GGBS,” says Davies. The engineers worked
out the CEM I values using their own in-house
carbon calculator, based on the IStructE carbon
calculator and ICE v3.0 Module A1-A3 data. The
values for the GGBS mix, meanwhile, were from
the actual project data during construction. “We
included the full mix design values for the stated
concrete mixes provided by the piling subcontractor,
waterproofing subcontractor, and concrete frame
sub-contractor – calculations which also included
distances to plants.”
Davies adds: “The savings might have been even
more, but some of the foundation works contained
less GGBS. The ground-floor slab, for example,
included a waterproofing admixture, and so the mix
was to a specialist’s design.”
BELOW The slabs are supported by 40 reinforced-concrete
The ribbed slabs help to conceal lighting columns constructed using ply forms. “Most of
and some services, while leaving the
soffit exposed 

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these are 500 x 500mm,” says

Davies. “But there are some 250mm
x 1m rectangular columns where
the architecture requires it – for
example, where the perimeter steps
in a little around the entrance.”
The rectangular columns have
also been deployed where the upper
floors step back from the street – a
feature designed to echo the style
of the existing college buildings.
“Moving columns is always
interesting,” says Davies, explaining
that the upper columns land a meter
or so back from the front facade
columns of the first four storeys.
“The ribbed slabs have a 1m-wide
concrete band beam running the
whole way around every bay, so
where the columns step back on the
fifth floor, they land on the beam.
There is added reinforcement in the
beam at those points.” Designing the staircases
Despite the dominance of
exposed concrete in the design, the Standing in the central atrium of The Salvation
interior does not feel in any way Army’s new headquarters, there is much to
industrial, partly due to the colour admire: its cathedral-like proportions, the stylish
of the concrete. “The high GGBS timber bulwarks and the glulam top beams. But
content gives the concrete a pale one of the most striking and important features
grey colour,” says Pinfield. “It helps are the elegant concrete staircases that rise
maximise the natural light. At the from floor to floor, zig-zagging their way to the
top of the atrium we have deep upper storeys.
glulam [timber laminate] beams They are meant to stand out, and to foster
which provide some solar shading, connectivity by enticing building occupants to
but in daylight they also have a explore other floors and other departments.
warm glow about them which is Constructing them, however, was not
taken up by the light-coloured straightforward.
concrete.” “The original plan was to have them precast,”
There is a great deal of timber says Jess Davies, associate at structural engineer
used throughout the building. It Davies Maguire. “They are very visible features,
part-panels some interior columns and precast would have guaranteed a good finish.
and, on each floor, timber slatting But at more than 7m, we realised they were too
part-covers the concrete ribbed long for most precasters’ facilities, and would
not have fitted on a lorry because of the length
 and angle.”

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 INSPIRATION | SALVATION ARMY

slab soffits where they meet the She then looked at constructing the 1.2m-wide
atrium space. “The timber works staircases from two precast sections, roughly
hard acoustically,” says Pinfield. 3.5m-long, but this solution was also rejected:
“The atrium is completely open to “The stairs are unsupported by any columns,
help provide connectivity between and to construct in two pieces would have
different departments, and people involved having a moment connection cast in to
can easily see colleagues on the half-landing, which would have been quite
different floors (see box). But the risk complicated,” she says. “The stairs also have quite
is noise transmission, so the ribbed a slim, 275mm, waist (the minimum thickness
slabs are useful here as they help from soffit to step) so there was not much room
disrupt sound reflections.” for complex connections.”
In addition, the timber slats have In the end, the stairs were cast in-situ. “This was
acoustic backing, and the spaces quite a challenge for the contractor, as they had
between the ribs also contain to start with the most visible staircase on the
acoustic panels. The effect is ground floor, so they had no time to practise the
finish.” Each one was constructed in two pours
 using traditional ply formwork supported on
scaffolding. “Mitchellsons worked hard to get a
smooth, clean finish, and hide the joints between
BELOW the pours,” says Davies. The steps are topped with
Timber slatting part-covers the terrazzo tiling to match the ground floor atrium.
slab edges where they meet the 
atrium space

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 INSPIRATION | SALVATION ARMY

remarkable: despite the hundreds of occupants

and open-plan scheme, the whole building enjoys a
library-like calm.
“The ribs also help to conceal lighting and some
services,” adds Pinfield. “The client didn’t want the
full, exposed services look – so the ribs are a way of
largely concealing these while still leaving the soffit
exposed. And because there is no false ceiling,
the building can benefit from the thermal mass of
the concrete.”
By absorbing excess heat during the day, the
exposed concrete frame reduces the need for air
conditioning in summer. Alternatively, by not
venting the building overnight in winter, the stored
heat can be used to reduce heating requirements.
The thermal mass effect works in conjunction
with air-source heat pumps to heat and cool the BELOW
building, which is part-powered by 90 photovoltaic The roof terrace takes advantage of
the views from the site’s prominent
panels on the roof.
location on top of Denmark Hill

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 INSPIRATION | SALVATION ARMY

Despite appearances, the stylish

brickwork facades of the building
feature yet more concrete: the
brickwork is constructed using
150mm-thick precast panels set
with 50mm-thick brick slips. Pinfield
explains that the precast option
suited the design, which features
deep reveals and brick piers. “It
means that when you look at the
facade from an angle, you read it
as a heavy brick building – in tune
with the original college buildings.
But from the front you see there
is plenty of glazing to provide the
interior with lots of natural light.”
The precast brick-faced panels
offered a number of advantages
over traditional brickwork: “You
have the quality control of off-site
manufacture, and its quick to build
on site with less scaffolding and
fewer people,” says Pinfield. “But, in
ABOVE
any case, we would have struggled The double-height reception space
to create some of the tall slim piers and adjacent cafe provide a public
– just one brick wide – traditionally. “shopfront” for the charity
They would not have been stable.
The precast panels, however, are
structurally self supporting. They
sit on a ground beam and this has
the added benefit of not adding any
loading to the upper frame.”
In all, 296 precast panels were
used, the largest weighing seven
tonnes and measuring 7.7m x 2.7m.
The facade brickwork has been
combined with creamy coloured
glass-reinforced concrete to echo
the brick and Portland Stone pallet
of the original college. The overall PROJECT TEAM
effect is an elegant blend of modern Architect TateHindle
and traditional, with the new HQ Structural engineer Davies Maguire
respecting the old buildings, while Contractor McLaren
asserting its own identity. William Concrete contractor Mitchellson
Booth would surely approve. Precast supplier Thorp Precast

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 INSPIRATION | RHODES HOUSE

LEARNING
CURVE
Stanton Williams has reworked the
grade II*-listed headquarters of the
Rhodes Trust educational charity in
Oxford, improving its environmental
Photos: Hufton + Crow; Neil Keynon

performance and doubling the

usable area largely by reimagining
previously vacated spaces beneath
the existing structure. Basements
and archives have been transformed
into light-filled foyers, offices and a
300-seat conference hall beneath a
concrete vault.

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INSPIRATION | RHODES HOUSE

The vault offers a number of

advantages. It introduces an arcing
window along the top of the back
wall, which brings daylight into
the basement and gives views
out to the landscaped garden. It is
also extremely material-efficient.
Spanning the 9m x 12m central
section of the hall, the vault is
200mm thick – far slimmer than a
flat slab.
A coffer is introduced in the hall’s
side wings, based on a 1.5m x 1.5m
grid of 600mm-deep beams with
a 150mm-thick slab in between.
Overall, the vaulted and coffered
structure means that the volume
of concrete is reduced by 50%
compared to a more standard
structural design.

READ THE FULL STORY

[Link]/cq 

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 INSPIRATION | TREKANTBLOKKA

FORCE OF
NATURE
Mad arkitekter has completed the
refurbishment and retrofit of Oslo’s
1960s Health Council building –
one of the finest examples of Erling
Viksjø’s naturbetong architecture
(see page 12). Known as the
Trekantblokka, or triangle block, the
building has been modernised and
extended by a storey to house new
office space, while public functions
Photos: Kyrre Sundal

have been introduced at street level.

Mad’s refurbishment has uncovered
abstract stem-like patterns of
smooth mortar on the naturbetong
walls. The team found that the
concrete was still in good condition
both inside and out – for the most
part, it simply needed cleaning with
water, with only small repairs to the
more exposed surfaces.
READ THE FULL STORY
[Link]/cq 

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 INSPIRATION | CAST HOUSE

EXTERIOR
MOTIFS
Architect Bureau de Change has
married traditional brickwork
with exposed in-situ concrete
and precast elements to offer a
modern interpretation of the 1930s
suburban houses of Clapham,
south London. Bay windows and
other traditional motifs have been
incorporated into the cast concrete
while intricate details, such as
framed lintels, were precast on site.

READ THE FULL STORY

[Link]/cq 
Photos: Gilbert McCarragher

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The precast frame of Hawkins\Brown’s Interdisciplinary Biomedical Research Building at the University of Warwick contains
a limestone filler in addition to 35% GGBS. Under the new version of BS 8500, limestone powder can be included as a third
cementitious component, further reducing the proportion of Portland cement required. Photo: Jack Hobhouse

Specifying
The updated standard
now includes a much
wider range of lower-

lower-carbon carbon mixes, potentially

reducing the UK’s annual

concrete using
carbon footprint by
1 million tonnes.
Gareth Wake explains

BS 8500 how specifiers can use it

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 APPLICATION | BS 8500

he key UK standard for the

specification of concrete is BS 8500,

T which complements the overarching

European standard BS EN 206 and
providing UK-specific guidance. On
30 November 2023, a revised edition
was published, substantially increasing
the range of lower-carbon concretes available to specifiers. In
particular, it now includes a wider range of multicomponent
cements that combine Portland cement with two additions or
supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs).
Since the 1980s, SCMs such as fly ash and ground
granulated blast-furnace slag (GGBS) have been included in
concrete, both for the specific properties they bring and to
lower its embodied carbon. Cement production accounts for
around 90% of concrete’s CO2 emissions, because the raw
materials must be heated to high temperatures, and because
of the chemical reaction involved in the process. Replacing a
proportion of the Portland cement with another cementitious
material is therefore currently a key strategy for reducing
embodied carbon. The UK concrete and cement industry has
set out a roadmap to fully decarbonise by 2050 – for example
by phasing out fossil fuels and introducing carbon capture
and storage at cement manufacturing plants. But specifiers
can make an important contribution, now and in the future,
by always choosing the lowest-carbon mix that can meet their
project’s requirements. With the 2023 update to BS 8500, the
options have increased considerably.

How multicomponent blends reduce embodied carbon

In 2021, the cement standard BS EN 197-5 was updated
to include products in which up to 65% of the Portland
cement (CEM I) content was replaced by two SCMs – adding
multicomponent equivalents to the binary combinations that
are already well-established in the UK. These new “ternary”
combinations consist of a range of proportions of CEM I and
limestone fines with either GGBS or fly ash, or a range of
proportions of CEM I with GGBS and fly ash.

33
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 APPLICATION | BS 8500

Extensive testing was

carried out, leading
to the update to
BS 8500:2023 that will
enable the specification of
multicomponent blends
as part of the available
lower-carbon concretes.
Now, up to 20% of the
binary combination can be
replaced with limestone
powder, an SCM that can
be sourced locally across
the UK. For every 5% of
limestone powder used,
there is a corresponding
carbon reduction of
approximately 5% per
tonne of cement. If the
new concretes were used
across all mainstream
applications, this would
add up to an annual carbon saving of about 1 million tonnes. ABOVE
Research commissioned by the Mineral Products Association The first CEM VI cement
found that limestone fines could be used as a material-efficient to be certified in France
is being used for the
replacement for both Portland cement and GGBS in a CEM I/
construction of the Grand
GGBS concrete, resulting in an equivalent performance but Angle apartment building
with a lower carbon footprint, while reducing consumption in Villefranche-sur-Saone.
of GGBS. The ternary blend contains
limestone and GGBS and
Standard methods for concrete specification is produced by Lafarge,
BS 8500 is published in two parts. While Part 2 is intended for which says it has 40%
lower embodied carbon
use by producers of concrete, it is Part 1 to which the specifier
than CEM I
should refer. This provides detailed guidance on compiling
specifications, and on exposure classes, aggregate classes,
intended working life, and properties of the fresh concrete such
as consistence.
BS 8500:2023-1 offers five approaches to the specification
of concrete:
n Designated concretes are a range of predetermined mixes
for common applications, split into five categories: GEN
concretes for unreinforced applications, RC concretes for
reinforced applications, PAV concretes for external paving, FND
concrete for foundations in aggressive ground conditions, and

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 APPLICATION | BS 8500

CB cement bound concretes for highway reinstatement. For

example, FND2 is a concrete suitable for ground assessed as
DC-2; RC28/35 is a concrete in the strength class C28/35
suitable for use in an internal suspended floor. Designated
concretes can only be supplied by ready-mixed producers
with third-party conformity certification. They are not suitable
where there is a risk of chloride corrosion, where a designed
concrete should be specified instead. BELOW
n Designed concretes are for the informed specifier, Tarmac used a Portland
where the designer considers all the requirements for the Limestone Ternary cement
C VI at the Hexham
hardened concrete to derive the necessary strength class
Flood Alleviation Scheme
and other properties such as cement type, minimum cement
in Northumberland.
content and maximum water/cement ratio. Normally the This concrete has
designer will assess the exposure conditions and consider three cementitious
the recommendations set out in BS 8500-1 to determine components – cement
the concrete properties and minimum cover to the clinker, GGBS and up to
reinforcement. The flexibility of designed concretes makes 20% of limestone filler to
replace some of the GGBS.
them suitable for specifying the most sustainable concrete,
Compared to a standard
using lower-carbon cements alongside other considerations CEM I it offers a 64%
such as the use of recycled or secondary aggregates. Once reduction in embodied
the designer has completed their sections of the specification, carbon to 119kg/m3 CO2e
it is passed onto the
contractor to add
requirements for the
fresh concrete, such as
consistence. The producer
is then responsible for
meeting the requirements
of the specification
through provision of the
mix design.
n Prescribed concretes
allow the more informed
designer to specify
concrete by prescribing the
composition. This method
is rarely used but is useful
where a particular ratio of
constituents is required.
The specifier is responsible
for the strength and
other performance
characteristics of the
concrete.

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 APPLICATION | BS 8500

Understanding cement classification

Cements that are produced in a cement works are
denoted CEM. Portland cement (CEM I) consists of at
n Standardised prescribed concretes least 95% Portland cement clinker. Other common
are intended for small building sites cements are designated using CEM II, CEM III, CEM
where concrete is either mixed by hand IV, CEM V or CEM VI, with further qualifying letters to
or in a small mixer less than 150 litres. indicate the proportions and types of constituents.
They are denoted ST, and have no The first letter indicates the proportion of the clinker
requirement for strength demonstration, that has been replaced, as shown in Table 1. For
but BS 8500-1 provides some indicative example, a Portland-composite cement designated
values for the strength class that may CEM II/A contains between 6-20% clinker replacement,
be assumed for structural design. whereas a Blast furnace cement designated CEM III/C
To ensure ST concrete is safe for the contains between 81% and 95%.
indeterminate range of materials
and site supervision, the cement Table 1: Allowable proportions of cement replacement
content is very high, resulting in much by different designations
higher embodied carbon compared to
Cement designation /A /B /C
designated concretes. Their use should
therefore be avoided where a ready- CEM II 6-20% 21-35% 36-50%
mixed concrete, either designated or CEM III 36-65% 66-80% 81-95%
designed, can be used instead. CEM IV 11-35% 36-55% n/a
n Proprietary concretes are developed
CEM V 36-60% 62-80% n/a
by the producer and marketed based
on their enhanced fresh or hardened CEM VI only has one range of Portland cement
properties. The producer will normally replacement proportions (51-65%) so does not have a
guarantee the performance of these designation letter. A further letter indicates the type of
products and provide test certificates. addition(s) in the cement combination:
They may be covered by third-party
S GGBS
product conformity certification. The
range of proprietary concretes include V Fly ash
lower-carbon concretes and concretes L Limestone fines
for high-performance applications, D Silica fume
where a lower-carbon solution can be M (A1 – A2) Multicomponent (addition 1 – addition 2)
produced by a reduction in the total
volume of material. For example, CEM II/A-V is a Portland-fly ash cement
with 6-20% fly ash, while CEM II/B-M (S-L) is a
Specification simplified multicomponent cement where GGBS and limestone
BS 8500:2023 aims to increase the fines replace between 21% and 35% of the Portland
use of lower-carbon mixes by removing cement clinker. Where more than one addition is listed,
unnecessary barriers. Using the the first has the higher proportion. Cements that
methodology of the previous edition meet the requirements for sulfate resistance have the
additional notation “+SR”, as in CEM III/A +SR.


36
 CEM designations refer only to products made in the
cement factory. Equivalent combinations to these
cements are produced at the concrete batching plant
from a cement and one or more additions in the mixer
for specifying the increased number that conform to the requirements of BS EN 197. These
of cements and combinations would are denoted slightly differently, with C instead of CEM.
have been impractical, so this edition So, CEM III/A would be CIIIA, and CEM II/C-M (S-L)
simplifies specification by introducing becomes CIIC-SL.
the “combined performance category”,
which covers resistance to sulfates and Table 2: Indicative embodied carbon (modules A1-A3)
chloride. Cements and combinations for different cements and combinations
of cements are categorised according
to their relative resistance to chlorides Cement types
(graded from 1-4) and sulfate attack Combined Supplementary Embodied
(graded from A-G). This is based on Cement factory at concrete cementitious carbon
plant material (%) (kgCO2/t)
Concrete Society Technical Report 61:
TR61 Enhancing reinforced concrete CEM I / Portland
n/a n/a 840
cement
durability, and BRE Special Digest 1,
Concrete in Aggressive Ground. CEM II/A-L Portland
CIIA-L
In exposure classes XD and XS where limestone cement
reinforcement is at risk of corrosion CEM II/A-M (S-L)
due to chloride ingress, the update has Portland composite CIIA-SL 6-20 791-673
cement
removed the minimum recommended
characteristic strength. It has gone CEM II/A-V Portland
CIIA-V
fly ash cement
further with regard to corrosion due
to carbonation, removing limiting CEM II/B-V Portland
CIIB-V
values of minimum cement content fly ash cement

and maximum water/cement ratio, to CEM II/B-S Portland

CIIB-S 21-35 693-553
leave just a minimum recommended slag cement
characteristic strength for each nominal CEM II/B-M (S-L)
cover to the reinforcement. n Portland composite CIIB-SL
cement
Gareth Wake is director of the British
Ready-Mixed Concrete Association, CEM II/C-M (S-L)
Portland composite CIIC-SL 36-50 569-452
part of the MPA cement *

CEM III/A Blast-

For more details of combined CIIIA 36-65 575-362
furnace cement
performance categories, as well as
CEM III/B Blast-
minimum concrete strengths and depth CIIIB 66-80 355-252
furnace cement
of cover to reinforcement, refer to CEM IV/B-V Siliceous
CIVB-V 36-55 545-390
The Concrete Centre document “How fly ash cement
to design concrete structures using CEM VI (S-L)
CVI-SL 51-65 459-342
Eurocode 2: BS 8500 for building and Composite cement *
civil structures” * New cements

37
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House Made by Designed by Cairn Architects, House
Made by Many Hands in east London

Many Hands
is the first building structure in the
UK to specify concrete containing
limestone calcined-clay cement (LC3),
a multicomponent blend made from
50% clinker, 30% calcined clay and
15% limestone, with 5% gypsum for
Case study Cairn Architects and Structure workability.
Workshop have trialled a limestone calcined-clay LC3 was developed at the EPFL
research university in Switzerland, with
cement on a low-carbon extension in east London academic partners in Cuba and India,
and has been calculated to generate
30-40% less CO2 in production than
CEM I. Calcined clay is processed at a
much lower temperature than Portland
cement – 800°C rather than 1,400-
1,500°C – and limestone does not need
to be processed at all.
Like limestone, clay is abundant in
the UK, but there is also much that
could be diverted from other industrial

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 APPLICATION | CALCINED CLAY

waste streams. An MPA innovation

project is nearing completion on
tests of secondary sources from brick
manufacturing and reclaimed resources
from mineral extraction sites, with
the aim of enabling much wider use
of calcined clay as a supplementary
cementitious material.
At House Made by Many Hands, LC3
has been used for the floor slab and to
underpin the existing brick footings of
a Victorian house extension. The low-
carbon approach extends to the rest of
the project, which has been completed
in natural materials such as hempcrete,
cork and lime plaster.
Structural engineer Structure
Workshop took on the risk of pioneering
the LC3 technology, carrying out cube
tests to verify its C25/30 strength.
“Because of the small scale of this
project, hopefully it can be a test case
and a piece of evidence that allows
these things to be used at a much bigger
scale,” says Kieran Hawkins of Cairn. IF WE HADN’T TOLD
The concrete was mixed and poured THE CONTRACTOR
in the same way as standard concrete, IT WAS A DIFFERENT
requiring no additional site training. CONCRETE, THEY
“If we hadn’t told the contractor it was
different, they wouldn’t have known,”
WOULDN’T HAVE
says Hawkins, adding that the cost was KNOWN
also comparable to a conventional mix.
Structure Workshop used its own
carbon calculator, which applies industry
carbon factors sourced from Bath
University’s ICE database. The embodied
carbon of the LC3 slab was measured
at 65% that of CEM I. Overall, the
design team are reporting the project’s
embodied carbon at 40% lower than
that of a typical Victorian extension.
The LC3 for the slab was imported from
Denmark, where it has already been used
on several projects, including the Bjarke
Ingels Group HQ in Copenhagen. n

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FINAL FRAME: CHARLES NÈGRE LIBRARY, GRASSE
Designed by Ivry Serres and Beaudouin Architectes, this cultural
centre on the French Riviera is one of 40 buildings shortlisted
for the EU 2024 Mies van der Rohe Award. Located in a seismic
zone, the design is based on a structure of in-situ concrete
vaults which lend lateral stability to the cantilevering form. The
glazed envelope is wrapped in fluted white columns, made of
nearly 14,000 seperate precast-concrete elements.
Photo: Fernando Guerra