Inspirations/Materials
Materials · 7 min read
Concrete, honestly
Exposed concrete is a finish decided at the formwork, not afterwards.
Fair-faced concrete looks effortless and is the opposite. The surface you get is the surface the formwork gave you, and there is no meaningful correcting it afterwards.
That means the shuttering is the finish. Panel sizes, joint positions, tie-hole layout and the sequence of pours all become visible, permanent design decisions. They should be drawn, not left to the site.
Colour variation between pours is normal and is part of the material. Clients who expect uniformity should be shown real examples of an aged wall before committing, not a render.
Where it works, nothing else has the same weight. Where it is attempted casually, it reads as a mistake rather than a choice.
The shuttering is the finish. It should be drawn, not left to the site.
