Greening the Mix by Mary Burger, while studying landscape architecture and environmental design at U.C. Berkeley, and featuring the concretist. (read more)
Approaching a project with sustainability in mind, for us, boils down to simplicity. The finish can still be rich, colorful, and tactile, and perhaps exemplifies our mission better than most or many of our projects… because a simple approach most often encourages and embraces the most elemental properties of concrete and translates them into fine finish. One example would be a floor with a former life… one that has lived through a series of remodels, and now wears the history of those past times with visible patches, spalls and trenches. On numerous occasions, we have been given the gift of working with those “imperfections” and successfully integrated them into a composition that is rich, unique, and utterly honest. In new construction, there is opportunity to work more sculpturally, in the concrete, with techniques such as seeding of objects or materials like recycled glass, steel, grain (yes, like chicken feed!) or other materials. Physical and visual texture can be manipulated; either with the freshly placed slab, during the cure, or after the slab is hard. In conjunction with these techniques, there are applied materials (such as dyes, pigments, and sealers) that are suitable for LEED projects, and manufacturers continue to make more and better products with a reduced carbon footprint and LEED certification in mind.
The Clarke Residence (CLICK image to see larger view)
The Burnham Residence
The Quintessa Winery
UC Berkeley
