Award winning Habitat was almost never built because shotcrete is just too heavy!
The build spec was 6"of shotcrete (70ish lbs per square foot) on these giant columns, the building engineers said that the columns would never hold. So we proposed our alternative methods of a high strength Polypropylene reinforced Concrete mix design that only weighs 10 to 12lbs per sqfoot.
These weight restrictions aren't the only reason why we choose our mix design for facades over shotcrete, more control, higher details, easier to repair/ alter. But the biggest in our mind, and I believe the mind of most is the rebound waste with shotcrete is up to 35%, for us, we estimate no more that 1% and less for our panel system.
Shotcrete will ALWAYS have it's place for structural elements, retaining walls, wall stabilization etc. but for these facades I don't believe it's the ideal way to build functional works of art. Side note for all the insanely talented shotcrete carving artists out there, i believe you will enjoy carving, stamping and shaping high strength mortar even more.
Rockscapes of Canada Inc.
Award winning Habitat was almost never built because shotcrete is just too heavy!
The build spec was 6"of shotcrete (70ish lbs per square foot) on these giant columns, the building engineers said that the columns would never hold. So we proposed our alternative methods of a high strength Polypropylene reinforced Concrete mix design that only weighs 10 to 12lbs per sqfoot.
These weight restrictions aren't the only reason why we choose our mix design for facades over shotcrete, more control, higher details, easier to repair/ alter. But the biggest in our mind, and I believe the mind of most is the rebound waste with shotcrete is up to 35%, for us, we estimate no more that 1% and less for our panel system.
Shotcrete will ALWAYS have it's place for structural elements, retaining walls, wall stabilization etc. but for these facades I don't believe it's the ideal way to build functional works of art. Side note for all the insanely talented shotcrete carving artists out there, i believe you will enjoy carving, stamping and shaping high strength mortar even more.
1 month ago | [YT] | 3