The devil wears weatherboard/ concrete/ polycarbonate/ zinc....

Having had a meeting with builder and client this week regarding Railway Parade, concern was raised regarding the "shell" constructability...

We have proposed to use GRC (Glassfibre Reinforced Concrete) to create a solid and low-maintenance building shell, but the weight of the shell components in relation to man-handling was questioned.

See, what we need to consider here is amount of time it will take to erect the building facade with people, and how much time we would need a crane on site. Then we need to think about how these people can work with the material (quoting Tadao Ando, "you have to feel the weight the builder feels on site")....before we can even start to TALK about the "aesthetic" of the building (we can THINK about it.....of course we do!).

Now we are looking at other ways to dress the building.  Here is my shopping list....I want something which is:

simple,

honest,

does not disturb the linear geometry of the structural elements,

lightweight,

easily manageable on site,

cost effective,

accommodates insulation to reduce energy consumption,

low in maintenance,

...... and looks good......

how many ways can we dress this building?

There are many available building materials to choose from, it is the matter of finding "the one".