Concrete Canvas

A friend sent me the link to this video showing a structure made with cement cloth (sounds weird, right?) that hardens after being inflated and then saturated with water.

Concrete Canvas is a UK company who designed this cloth for durable structures needing nothing more than water and air. Don't worry, this structure is waterproof after it "cures" and is strong enough to pile soil or snow all the way around it.

Here is a very recent piece BBC did (and, in my opinion the best video) for the CCS (Concrete Canvas Structures).







The most obvious problem with this construction effort is the weight of the structure for transporting it. It requires a forklift to move the initial, folded structure. However, the weight provides a durability lasting, as the video claims, up to 10 years. Seems to be worth the trade off if you need massive, permanent, instant and sterile structures in a specific location. As mentioned, the buildings are being utilized in military operations to protect troops and also in relief efforts, such as post-tsunami Japan.

Another issue is the availability of water in some areas of the world. Luckily one may use salt water to construct the building; however, areas with little and continuously decreasing water supplies (such as the Middle East) may have some issues setting up more than one or two of these structures should relief aid call for it.

The company's photo gallery offers pictures of the structures and the other uses Concrete Canvas is discovering. The cloth is now being used as ditch liners, slope covers (to prevent landslides, etc). The cloth is also being used in more creative ways, such as armchairs.

Concrete Canvas has won multiple major awards for their innovation, beginning in 2005 and continuing on to 2011, so do not be chary of the aged youtube video you will most likely come across. These structures are still, quite literally, going strong.