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Mint Hotel, London

The Concrete Centre

A key requirement for the Mint Hotel was for all walls between rooms to be concrete, which provides high levels of inherent thermal efficiency, fire resistance and sound insulation.

Marshall Building, London

The Concrete Centre

From rotated grids to huge trunk-like columns and post-tensioned cantilevers, the structure is the star at the LSE’s extraordinary Marshall Building, writes Tony Whitehead

Colne Valley Viaduct, London

The Concrete Centre

HS2 trains will only spend a minute or so above ground between the tunnels that take them out of London and through the Chiltern Hills – but a lot happens in that minute.

Government Bans Combustible Materials in External Walls of Tall Buildings

The Concrete Centre

The Concrete Centre’s principal structural engineer and expert on fire, Tony Jones, clarifies the Government’s combustible materials ban and its impact on construction. 

On 29 November the Government announced details of the changes to the Building Regulations, and associated guidance, that bans the use of combustible materials in the external walls of the relevant buildings.

Oversimplifying the overheating issue

The Concrete Centre

Tom De Saulles, The Concrete Centre's advisor on Building Physics expresses concerns that elements of new MHCLG proposals represent a backward step on addressing overheating in new homes.

Insulating concrete formwork

The Concrete Centre

Insulating concrete formwork (ICF) is a simple construction system using purpose made insulating panels or blocks as the permanent formwork for in-situ concrete. The block and panel ICF systems use either expanded polystyrene insulation (EPS) or extruded polystyrene (XPS).

Net zero needs a design aesthetic

The Concrete Centre

Would a modern twist on the Bauhaus vision help to inspire and transform, asks Elaine Toogood. The European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen recently said that the climate transition needs its own ‘distinctive aesthetic’. She has vowed to set up a new Bauhaus movement to inspire architects and designers.