Cloth is flexible; concrete is strong.  UK based company Concrete Canvas‘ Concrete Cloth is both. Originally developed to provide the hardened skin for the award winning Concrete Canvas Shelters (a building in a bag that requires only water and air for construction), it can now do just about anything: ditch lining, slope protection, sandbag reinforcement, pipeline protection – plus more glamorous design applications.  Just position the cloth and add water.

Concrete Cloth. Designed by Concrete Canvas.

The cement impregnated fabric hardens when hydrated to form a thin, durable, water and fire proof concrete layer.  Last week, global materials consultancy Material ConneXion announced Concrete Cloth as the inaugural winner of their first annual MEDIUM Award for Material of the Year.  “The winner is distinguished not only for its technical ability, but for its capacity to make a lasting impact on our lives.” Concrete Cloth’s groundbreaking cement impregnated flexible fabric technology, which allows it to be quickly and easily molded and set into shapes, is a natural choice for 2009’s winner. “With the simple addition of water, Concrete Cloth makes it possible to create safe, durable, non-combustible structures for a wide range of commercial, military and humanitarian uses,” says Dr. Andrew H. Dent, Vice President, Library & Materials Research at Material ConneXion. “This innovation is especially remarkable for enabling the construction of rapidly deployable shelter and food storage structures in disaster relief situations,” Dent adds.

CC can be rapidly unrolled to form ditch or tank lining, for example. It eliminates the need for plants and mixing equipment, making it faster and less expensive than traditional concrete pouring.   CC consists of a 3-dimensional fibre matrix containing a specially formulated dry concrete mix.  Once set, these fibres reinforce the concrete.  A PVC backing on one surface of the fabric ensures that the material is completely water proof. Once the cloth is positioned, the material can be hydrated through spraying or by fully immersing it in water. CC is available in 1.1m wide rolls in 3 thicknesses: CC4, CC8 and CC13, which are 4, 8 and 13mm thick respectively. Other widths and thicknesses are available upon request.  Concrete Cloth allows thin walled concrete structures to be formed that are simultaneously strong and lightweight.  We look forward to seeing the various design applications that this material makes possible!