Hanson uses Colourcrete to complete Payers Park

Using Colourcrete, Hanson has completed a project in Payers Park, Folkestone. The brief was to create a new focal point for the community that would act as a safe access link through the town centre.

With the location being set in a steep sloping valley side, the project required the use of heavy building materials with the structural capabilities to cope with the complexities of the site. In developing its exposed structures, colour and aesthetic were important considerations, with efforts made to match them closely to the local clays and sandstones, such as Greensand and Gault clay. For this, Colourcrete was selected, largely due to its strength, durability and low maintenance, but also because it provided the widest choice of colour possibilities.

Hanson worked with the designers, muf architecture/art, and engineers Haskins Robinson Waters, to select three concrete shades to complement a wider colour palette and blend in with the natural landscape. Two of the shades, Deep Yellow and Olive Green, were created as bespoke mixes to help meet the design concept.

A specialist retaining feature wall using all three concrete shades was also cast in one lift without the adverse merging of colour. This was achieved through controlled placement and compaction techniques applied on site to set the three Colourcrete shades in layers – the darkest colour on the bottom and the lightest on top – to mimic a geological timeline within the soil. The Olive Green shade was additionally used within sprayed concretes to form four stepped concrete dishes against the slope.

All three colours were incorporated in the park’s retaining walls – which give the appearance of ruins or excavations hidden under deposits of soil. The walls, which sit within the site’s slopes, were used to support levelled areas where accessible public routes have been created.

Adapted from press release by Rebecca Bowden

Read the article online at: https://www.worldcement.com/europe-cis/21122015/hanson-uses-colourcrete-to-complete-payers-park-218/