Cemex supplies concrete for museum

One of the most unique museums in Europe is located under the green hills of Palava in the Czech Republic, and has only a few towers protruding from the landscape.

The site is an IUCN landscape protected area and UNESCO biosphere reserve on the border with Austria that was originally settled in prehistoric times. It has yielded a large number of archaeological artifacts. A museum, called the Archeopark Pavlov, has been built on the site to teach visitors about this period in time – the concrete and special products for the project were supplied by Cemex.

Most of the building is underground, with the only natural light given by the towers, creating the feeling of entering a prehistoric cave. The archaeological site and its artifacts, including skeletons, have been integrated into the building’s design. This required meticulous coordination between the archaeologists, designer, contractor and suppliers. The resulting single floor building includes training premises, a cinema and two exhibit galleries.

Additionally, the building was designed to blend seamlessly into the external landscape. Cemex technologists worked closely with the client to design a concrete mix that would allude to the limestone rock formations famous in the area. As it was important to maintain a uniform colour, a Cemex Chief Technologist remained onsite to supervise the placement of concretes for the towers as well as the entrance’s monolithic walls that transition into prefabricated elements with holes in the shape of mammoth tusks.

Other special concrete were also specifically chosen for their particular function. The walls were reinforced both externally and internally using a Cemex architectural concrete that was carefully textured to look like wooden boards. Cemex also supplied an impermeable concrete for the underground structure and two different types of foam concrete for the floors. The complex geometric layout of the building and its atypical elements meant that Cemex has to frequently modify the water content in the concrete mix designs as needed.

The museum is now open to the public and layers of findings from the Stone Age have been preserved and uncovered as an integral part of the building.

Adapted from press release by Rebecca Bowden

Read the article online at: https://www.worldcement.com/europe-cis/15092016/cemex-supplies-concrete-for-museum-272/