Tag: Holcim Schweiz

  • Holcim partners with Madaster

    Holcim partners with Madaster

    Holcim Switzerland wants to do more for the circular economy in the construction industry. In this context, the building materials company has entered into a partnership with Madaster , according to a press release .

    Madaster is working on so-called material passports for new and existing buildings. With these material passports, construction waste is given an identity and can be cataloged and reused as resources. The aim is to avoid waste and promote the circular economy in the construction and real estate sector.

    The Madaster platform can also be used during the design phase of buildings to compare different construction methods and material options. Manufacturers of building materials – such as Holcim – can compare and present their products with the product databases on Madaster. They can also trace their products to enable reuse if necessary. Madaster’s services are marketed in Switzerland by Madaster Services Switzerland AG, based in Zurich.

    Holcim Switzerland has set itself the goal of producing only climate-neutral and fully recyclable building materials by 2050. The new partnership should now help to achieve this goal. “By using Madaster when planning buildings, the right decisions for recyclable and resource-saving materials can already be made today,” says Christophe Berset, Team Lead New Solutions at Holcim Switzerland, in the press release. “The more transparency there is at the product level, the more future-proof buildings can be planned, built and dismantled, and materials and products can be used in further phases of use,” he adds.

  • Concrete 3D printed bridge unveiled in Venice

    Concrete 3D printed bridge unveiled in Venice

    The Striatus arch bridge was unveiled on Monday at the Venice Architecture Biennale. It was designed by the Block Research Group at the Institute for Technology in Architecture of the Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich ( ETH ), the Zaha Hadid Architecs Computation and Design Group and the Innsbruck specialists for additive manufacturing with concrete, incremetal3D . It was made possible by the building materials manufacturer Holcim Switzerland .

    Striatus is part of the “ Time Space Existence ” exhibition. It will be shown by the European Cultural Center as part of the Biennale. Its name (Latin: ribbed, grooved, striped) reflects the structural logic and the manufacturing process of the bridge, said Philippe Block from ETH in a press release from Holcim. “In arched and vaulted structures, the material is placed in such a way that the forces can be transferred to the supports in pure compression. The strength is generated by the geometry, whereby only a fraction of the materials are used that are used in conventional beams. ”This opens up a multitude of possibilities for building with lower strength and environmentally friendly.

    "Striatus stands on the shoulders of giants," says Shajay Bhooshan of Zaha Hadid Architects. “It revives ancient techniques of the past.” Its “tactile quality, aesthetics and strength” reflected the vision “that beauty is a promise of performance”. The joint work makes the striatus bridge "greater than the sum of its individual parts", says Johannes Megens, co-founder of incremental3D. According to Holcim CEO Jan Jenisch, the digital and circular design of the bridge uses "concrete at its best, with minimal use of materials and blocks that can be reassembled and reused infinitely".

    Holcim claims to be working on a range of 3D printing applications, from complex infrastructure to affordable housing for Africa. In Malawi, Holcim has put the world's first school made of 3D concrete printing into operation. The construction of the walls took only 18 hours and consumed 70 percent less material than with conventional construction methods.