“avanto architects” from Helsinki have designed a stylish barrel storage building for the Kyrö Distillery Company, which was recently awarded the Finnish concrete architecture prize. At first glance, the building appears to be clad with old, charred wooden planks. In reality though, it has a raven black pigmented concrete façade with a deceptively real wood appearance.

According to the original plan, the concrete elements were to be produced with colored concrete and then painted darker at the construction site. After several trial castings, the deep black Bayferrox 360 pigment was used at a dosage level of 5 % pigment, calculated on the total weight of cement. The resulting colored concrete was dark & black enough that it could be used without the need for expensive additional painting.
The use of iron oxide pigments in concrete or the implementation of customized color ideas always requires essential technical and application expertise – especially with black pigments. Apart from selecting the suitable pigment, the choice of the right cement is of great importance. For example, the type of cement used has an influence on the shade, and conversely, the reactions of pigments with concrete aggregates have to be checked.
This process requires expertise in how the concrete technology and the color pigment interact. The planners were therefore given professional support by the technical pigment experts at LANXESS for the construction of the barrel storage facility.

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