Glass foam concrete recieves concrete price

‘Groundbreaking’ On Thursday 14 November, the  21st edition of the Concrete Prize was awarded during the annual Concrete Day. The jury evaluated 65 entries, resulting in 17 nominated projects. There are six categories (this year with an extra) in which prizes were awarded and in the category ‘Groundbreaking’ the prize went to Regiokantoor Natuurmonumenten in Zierikzee. With the building at Levensstrijdweg 1 in Zierikzee, insulating concrete has been used for the first time in the Netherlands: glass foam concrete. A type of concrete that does not contain gravel but glass foam granulate. Glass foam granulate is a recycling product of glass which provides the insulating effect of this type of concrete. Load-bearing capacity, insulation and building physics properties are combined in this type of concrete in one material. According to the parties involved, the introduction of the new material was also used in this project to explore the potential of the properties of the material. The starting point was that these possibilities had to serve the design: to create a building that goes hand in hand with nature. To this end, it was important that the walls and roof of the building would have the same appearance. To achieve this, the walls have been poured lying down. Boxes were made on location. At the top (outside) due to the driving capacity of the glass foam granules in the concrete, the appearance of the glass foam granules is erratic. To achieve this, extensive tests have been done to create a stable mixture in which the glass foam granules are just lighter than the rest of the concrete, but not light enough to prevent segregation. At the bottom of the boxes, a foil has been applied to a thin layer of sand, giving the walls a softly folded appearance on the inside. After curing the walls, they were hoisted into place and set by means of lifting tubes. The roof has just been coffined on the spot, armed and poured. By including loose glass foam granules at the bottom of the box, the underside of the roof (the ceiling) has acquired a coarse natural appearance. In addition, this application ensures sound absorption in the building. Walls and roof are connected in miter to each other in order to obtain a sharp profile on the outside with a continuous ‘materialization’. Client: Natuurmonumenten Main contractor: Braspenning Aann.- en timmerbedrijf vof Wernhout Glasschuimbeton: Glasschuim Nederland i.s.m.  Dyckerhoff Basal Architect: Rink Tilanus, www.rinktilanus.nl Constructor: B2CO, www.b2co.nl Heat calculations: Coen Energy Comfort.

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