Design and material selection

Decorative concrete slab

    Buluojia decorative concrete slab is cast in one time, without any external decoration, and directly uses the natural surface effect of cast-in-place concrete as the finish. Decorative concrete slab is the most advanced expression of concrete materials. It shows the most essential beauty and reflects the taste of "plain face". It has high strength, plasticity, and is all inorganic. Its shape, color, effect, texture, material, etc. can be customized. Prefabricated products can also be cast in place. Therefore, it is different from ordinary concrete. The surface is flat and smooth, the color is uniform, the edges and corners are clear, and there is no damage or pollution. It only applies one or two layers of transparent protective agent on the surface, which looks very natural and solemn.

Basic overview of decorative concrete slab

    Many architects like to use decorative concrete slabs, so what exactly are decorative concrete slabs? Decorative concrete panels are called Architecture Concrete (Architectural Concrete), Exposed Concrete (Exposed Surface Concrete) or Fair Faced Concrete (Decorative Concrete) abroad. Its biggest feature is that after the concrete is poured, there is no coating on the outside, and no tiles, stones or other materials are applied. It is a way to show the plain face of concrete, but due to concerns about being soaked or deteriorated by rain, a layer of waterproof protective film may be sprayed on. With the development of concrete technology, by the 1950s and 1960s, decorative concrete panel buildings were gradually adopted by architects. During the construction process, the surface effect formed by pouring once and no decoration is added is used as an art of expression in architecture.

Classification of decorative concrete panels

1. Japanese style clear water

◎ Water Church / Tadao Ando

    2. European Shimizu pursues a natural and harmonious style, requiring the finish to be harmonious and unified in color from a distance, and to have a real concrete texture when viewed from close up. The surface layer pursues a matte effect and does not accept bright film.

◎ Cathedral of Saint-Pierre in Firmin / Le Corbusier

Texture of decorative concrete slabs

    The surface of concrete after demolding is flat and smooth, but there may be wood grain on the smooth surface.

◎ Akita Prefectural Museum of Art (Tadao Ando/2012)

◎ Long House in Sumiyoshi (Tadao Ando/1976)

    Different from the sculptural decorative concrete slabs in Tadao Ando's works, this is a decorative concrete slab cast by a small template with wood grain.

    This small-scale wooden formwork leaves traces of the use of the wooden formwork on the surface of the building because of its non-strictly flat splicing, which looks unique and is also loved by architects.

The color of decorative concrete panels

    Since decorative concrete panels are to play a decorative role, their color needs to have higher requirements than ordinary concrete. The most basic requirements for the color of decorative concrete panels are uniformity and no color difference.

◎RW Church in South Korea

Application trend of decorative concrete panels

    As China's industrialization level deepens, the mainstream aesthetic style has quietly changed. Since 2001, artists from Beijing and outside Beijing have begun to gather in Factory 798. They make full use of the Bauhaus architectural style of the original factory building, slightly renovate and decorate it, and turn it into a distinctive art exhibition and creation space. The success of 798 is a landmark event of this transformation.
In terms of aesthetic characteristics, decorative concrete panels give us at least the following two inspirations: First, decorative concrete panels have the characteristics of "suitable for ancient and modern, both Chinese and Western". Second, "industrial aesthetics" will have greater room for growth in China's urban aesthetics in the future. The collision of this typical "Western" material with the modern "Eastern" power will inspire more sparks of thought.

Design considerations for decorative concrete panels

    Decorative concrete panels have a variety of options, which realizes the factory automation of concrete and can greatly save construction time. The facade of decorative concrete panels should be deepened and optimized in combination with engineering design requirements to meet the requirements of component standardization and modular design. It is convenient for production and construction and installation. The design must be considered in advance.

    At the same time, the installation of concrete hanging panels is similar to that of stone, and the design of the keel can be calculated by participating in the exhibition of stone curtain walls.

Construction of decorative concrete panels

    The key to the effect of decorative concrete panel projects lies in the quality of construction, and the key to construction lies in the template. The production of templates requires not only knowledge, but more importantly, practical experience. In Japan, many of them are passed down from master to apprentice.

    ◎ When constructing the template of decorative concrete panels, the template must be flat, the size must be accurate, and the joints must be tight. When pouring, the cement must be evenly distributed. Vibration should not be too much or too little. Too much vibration will easily cause segregation, and the color and texture will be uneven. To solve this problem, the concrete of the Pulitzer Museum of Art uses uniformly graded concrete.

    If there is an error or defect in any place, this error will be reflected on the surface of the concrete when the formwork is removed.

    No wonder Tadao Ando said, "To this day, for more than 30 years, I have been fighting with concrete. The quality of cement has been continuously improved with the progress of the times. Now, as long as you follow the work manual and use cement pumping grouting with general concrete, anyone can make a certain level of finished product. Even so, the characteristic of decorative concrete panels is: before the formwork is removed, success or failure is unknown."

◎ Having written here, it is necessary to post a picture of the great god Tadao Ando

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    If you are looking for decorative panels for both indoor and outdoor use, concrete decorative panels are the perfect choice. Production in one will make any area where you install it more visually appealing. As long as you are careful and maintain the stone properly, it can remain beautiful for many years. Click here to learn about it Concrete decorative slab More information on styles.