Need a quick, sturdy structure that looks like an armadillo, is fireproof, and waterproof, too? If so, Concrete Canvas Ltd. has a solution for you.
Designed for both military and civilian purposes, Concrete Canvas Shelters require only water, air, and a small amount of time to construct. Two models are available: the CCS25 and CCS54. Two people can build CCS25 in 24 hours. That’s pretty darned fast for a semi-permanent (10+ years) concrete structure!
According the their web site, the idea for Concrete Canvas arose “from the idea of using inflation to create a purely tensile surface to use as the formwork for perfect compressive forms, thus using the properties of concrete most efficiently.”
That’s quite a mouthful. I think it’s saying that they wanted to develop a surface that would cling to porous materials. But I’m not sure.
Perhaps this video will help explain things better:
Concrete Canvas Shelters have excellent thermal properties thanks to berming—the use of earth or snow against the building’s walls. Berming reduces heat loss, yet maintains a constant indoor temperature. In the case of earth berming, it also makes the unit bulletproof. But situations involving bullets are something us Fix-It-Yourself-ers hope to avoid, right?
These units are also designed for modular use; they can be connected together by the doorways of each section.
The same concrete cloth material can be used for other projects such as ditch-lining and pipe protection.
Wave of the future? I don’t know, but they are currently being factory-produced in Wales.
by John Barker
