64 | This eye-catching concrete home in Lincoln features an orange door and concrete canopies stretching out. Admire Concrete Homes T T Hugh de Lacy BUILDING www.diggersnz.com | (03) 381 1200 | admin@diggersnz.com • Excavation • Retaining Walls • Transportation • Demolition • Civil Construction • Cartage Concrete Pumping Specialists Contact Duncan 021 225 5871 for all enquires duncan@martyspumps.nz for bookings & rates Concrete Pump Hire (Marty’s) Ltd is proud to work with Admire Concrete Homes. The “beton brut” (raw concrete”) style of architecture pioneered by French architect Auguste Perret, and made more famous by Le Corbusier, is what drives Canterbury-based Admire Concrete Homes to create houses that are “unique hand-made works of art,” according to company director Juanita Clearwater. Perret (1874-1954) designed homes made of reinforced concrete, but the term “beton brut” was coined by Swiss/French architect Charles-Edward Jeanneret (1887-1965), known as Le Corbusier, who used it to describe concrete left unfinished after it was cast, so it showed the patterns and seams of the boxing. The style later evolved in the United Kingdom into New Brutalism in the 1960s, and was taken up with gusto by New Zealand architects such as Christchurch’s Warren and Mahoney. “Admire Concrete Homes have brought the ‘beton brut’ style of architecture back to life with designs that are bold and artful, all with the raw concrete finish inside and out,” Juanita says. “These dramatic homes are true thermal “These dramatic homes are true thermal mass structures formed with poured concrete walls and ceilings, all without the use of pre-cast.“ mass structures formed with poured concrete walls and ceilings, all without the use of precast. “Our intention is to provide magnificent homes that are distinctive, stunning and stand out from the crowd, all built in concrete. “The finished walls and ceilings in raw formed concrete are organic and real, true and honest to the building material: when the formwork is stripped, the finished concrete is revealed, strong, eye-catching and sincere all at the same time.” Juanita’s co-director at Admire Concrete Homes is husband Stephen Clearwater, and together they developed a unique construction methodology through their combined experience In design and building. The concrete walls and ceilings – or midfloors – are poured at the same time, creating a monolithic structure. Such a construction method could appear challenging to the casual observer but it’s the norm for this small innovative company, which provides a full design-and-build service. Juanita is also a real estate agent, so Admire Concrete Homes can put forward highly attractive offers especially to out-of-towners, these days mostly Aucklanders fleeing south for the Canterbury lifestyle. “We were just not excited by the standard timber cookie-cutter homes that we saw everywhere in New Zealand, and wanted to offer something better, safer and healthier,” Juanita says. “This led us to develop a building system to deliver energy-efficient, strong, fire-resistant, low-maintenance, quiet, superior homes that will last 200 years.” Bold, artful designs in raw concrete “With thermally insulated exterior walls, the true thermal mass home we create makes light work of the new energy efficiency codes of late.” Juanita references a particular Admire Concrete Homes house in semi-rural Tai Tapu, south of Christchurch, that the company built three or four years ago. “The street view is stunning and, like a good wine, it’s looking better as the years roll by,” she says. Another of the company’s eye-catching homes is in Lincoln, further south of Christchurch, featuring an orange door and concrete canopies stretching out. Then there’s the company’s latest creation which can be seen from the road into Adventure Park. “It’s nearing completion and it sits there sprawled out, making a notable statement of its own. “There will always be those who enjoy the environment of the status quo, the normal way of doing things, but for those who are inspired to be different, to ignore the status quo, these concrete masterpieces are for you,” Juanita says.
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