We are nearly 24 months into the construction of a new house designed by Architect Fredric Kakish of Stubbs Design Tribe and the results, while still covered in construction dust, are impressive. Recently a unique feature in the house design was unveiled and I was lucky enough to head over to the site to check it out.
The big reveal – Board Formed Concrete!
If you don’t know what this is, I am going to give it my best explanation. Board formed concrete involves using wood panels in the concrete form work that patterns it with a wood grain finish. Wood on concrete?! It sounds unusual but I warn you, once you see the final finish of this technique you will suddenly feel like you’re falling in love. There is an element of movement and softness to board formed concrete that can’t be achieved with traditional form work. In a residential setting, it is a beautiful detail.
Partnership is key to making this technique work:
The walls you see in the pictures were constructed by our talented partners, Grover Constructions. Their team diligently sanded and planned each individual board before incorporating it into the form work. We worked together to complete every detail including recommending low tolerance for the gaps (2-3 mm) as the client wanted a clean seam between the board forms.
This feature fit the client brief perfectly as they wanted an industrial edge to their home and to keep materials simple and strong. They had a chance to view their new walls and I’m happy to report that they loved it. The clients also liked our suggestion to reuse the wood planks as a feature wall in their new bedroom, which was a smart and green bi-product of this process.
Final tips:
Concrete is robust, timeless and long-lasting but it is organic and if you want to design with it, you need to be open to the journey it will take you on. No matter how much you think you can control the outcome, it will behave in unexpected ways and you must have an architect and builder that are experienced and who you can trust to bring the best of this technique to your project.
Shared by: Jennifer, Stubbs Design Tribe
Reuse! Timber form work awaiting some TLC for use in bedroom feature wall – Bronte
