Basalt fiber concrete, facades made from pollution, 3D-printed steel, aluminum foam, glass bricks—these are the 'supermaterials' not of tomorrow, but, according to a new exhibition at London's Building Centre, today. SuperMaterial showcases not only the highly experimental and cutting edge, but also products that are currently available to use and build with.
One example is basalt fiber concrete from Techniker Engineers and Cornish Concrete Products. It combines the two types of rock to provide concrete the strength and thermal conductivity it wouldn't normally have. In the exhibition, an engineer has used it as a molded structure to show how it can disperse heat in new ways. The result is a passive tool that moves heat around a room, controlling where it's hot and cool without the need for energy-intensive air conditioning.
A facade created by Made of Air, who specialize in carbon-negative products, is one example of a commercially-available material. The facade is essentially made from compressed pollution from felled trees which have been burnt in a pyrolysis kiln. This process produces energy along with biochar, a waste material that takes millennia to decompose. By locking the carbon in, they've created a durable facade for buildings that utilizes CO2 that would ordinarily go into the atmosphere.
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