The Concrete House

As Featured on Channel 4's 'Grand Designs'

Aspiration, Passion & Determination
The elements of which innovations are made.

Aspiration to innovate, do something different, break away from the status quo, and be unique. Adrian Corrigall aspires to be different, and believes fervently in innovation.

Amongst Adrian's passions, is the material concrete, a material that has always been a part of his life. Adrian speaks with great enthusiasm about his younger years as a skateboarder, and about the concrete that was in contact with his body and his cheek as he listens to his breath laying on the ground after a fall from a new skateboard maneuverer that he was so determined to execute impeccably! For such a very special customer, only a very special concrete could encompass all those qualities, and become an extension of his being.

The Concrete House is the result of a journey to discover and explore what was the latest and most innovative concrete technology, but not only. In addition to its unique and exceptional performance, the concrete needed to express qualities that appealed to the emotions as well as create a symbiosis with its future dwellers and the surrounding environment.

Resilia At Last!

After a day of full emersion and contact with a palette of concrete technologies at CEMEX’s Global R&D Centre, Adrian fell in love with Resilia! A concrete technology that is able to withstand up to 8 times the strength capacity of conventional concrete, bend flexibly like a steel sheet, and yet unleash an appealing texture that hypnotizes and calms the mind.

Resilia is an advanced fiber-reinforced concrete technology - not only is it very strong (ultra-strength concrete), but it is also very ductile.

Given its mechanical performance, Resilia was selected as a construction material of choice for the Corrigall House, and with the objective of minimizing, if not completely eliminating, conventional steel reinforcement from the entire structure – an unprecedented feat in concrete construction!

Adrian was very pleased with the selection of Resilia, but novel materials also represent novel challenges.

Nonetheless, the spirit of collaboration between the Adrian, Engineers, Architects, and CEMEX made it possible to specify an novel solution, and bring an important innovation to the market.

Above all, what reigns in this project is the human spirit, and the true desire to go beyond what is conventional!

Thank you Adrian!

Materials Used For The Concrete House

In addition to the use of Resilia, other CEMEX special concrete technologies were adopted in the Corrigall House, such as Insularis for eliminating thermal bridges (enhance thermal efficiency), Permatite to enhance water tightness of the structure, and Evolution’s self-compacting admixture technology.