Concrete Canvas: This is How You Pitch a Building

“A building in a bag” is how engineering students Will Crawford and Peter Brewin describe their invention Concrete Canvas. It is a ground-breaking material technology that allows for the construction of concrete shelters in no time and only with the help of water and air. 

The material the shelters are made of, Concrete Cloth, is a flexible cement impregnated fabric that hardens on hydration to form a thin, durable water proof and fire proof concrete layer. Essentially, it’s concrete on a roll, all you have to do is position it, cut it with hand tools and spray it with water.  

Concrete Canvas Shelters come in a box, can be deployed by 2 people without any training in under an hour, and are ready to use in only 24 hours. They come in two sizes, 25sqm and 54sqm of floor space, that have a range of applications such as emergency infrastructure for distaster relief or frontline operations.

Concrete Coth is green in several ways. First, it can save about 95% of construction materials as it is the only way of laying a thin concrete layer from a prefabricated roll of material. This directly reduces the CO2 footprint of construction work not only through material savings but also through reduced road transport and time on site. In addition, if left untreated the material will naturally ‘green’ over time as it allows moss growth, while the fibre-reinforced concrete layer will prevent root-growing vegetation.

via BBC