Golden Trowel Competition 2006 – A Concrete Investment

JOHN GRANT, PICS LTD

For the second year running PICS are pleased to have been involved in encouraging decorative concrete contractors to put forward examples of the quality work being installed around the country, both in the domestic and commercial fields. This year over 25 companies took part, double the number from the previous year, and certain to grow in future years.

All entries are examples of decorative concrete being installed using the PICS range of colour surface hardeners and then finished using a range of textured imprinting mats and hand trowelled techniques. For depth and uniformity of colour, UV stability and increased abrasion resistance colour surface hardeners are essential for this type of decorative concrete finish, rather than through-coloured concrete systems with weaker colour and wearing qualities.

The Concrete Society once again provided the venue for the judging of the entries, with last year’s winner Jim McKinley of Premier Print Paving from Chesterfield joining Richard Day of The Concrete Society and Graham True the author of The Concrete Society’s Imprinted Concrete – Model Installation Clauses and Guidance Notes.

This year the format was changed to three categories, to cover the wide range of decorative concrete project photographs submitted :-

Category 1
Best example of creative and quality Pattern Imprinted Concrete work on a typical domestic project.

Category 2
Best example of creative and and quality Pattern Imprinted Concrete work on a typical commercial project.

Category 3
Best example of an individually designed and creatively installed Decorative Concrete project in any application using one or more of a variety of techniques.Contractors were asked to submit a maximum of 3 photographs of a project in any category, with a limit of 3 projects in total per contractor. Entries were requested in hard copy or digital formats.

The winners in each category were chosen as follows :-

Category 1
Paverprint Driveways and Patios from Reading for their photograph of a pacific boardwalk timber effect pattern imprinted concrete patio project (see below).

Paverprint have been installing pattern imprinted concrete in the Berkshire area for over 15 years, and whilst the patio photograph which was chosen as the overall winner was not the largest project they have undertaken in all those years, it was a particularly attractive photograph, and showed off the use of the pacific boardwalk imprinting mats combined with a biscuit colour surface hardener and a mahogany release agent secondary colour. As it was printed around the conservatory, it required a degree of hand tooling and they combined the use of natural facing bricks for the steps, and to disguise the control joints in a good example of a domestic project.

Two other project photographs which were submitted by Paverprint were picked out for praise during the judging, so they were worthy winners of the Golden Trowel award in this category.

Category 2
Minimix (North East) from Billingham for their photograph of a school playground feature decorative concrete design project (see below).

For several years, Minimix North East have been carrying out Pattern Imprinted Concrete installations for Darlington Council. In February 2006 after carrying out other school projects for the Council, the council realised the potential of what can be achieved with decorative concrete, they provided us with an outline drawing and the instruction to create a jungle theme play area of 104m2 at the Gurney Pease School in Darlington.

They were given artistic license to add to the basic concept and create their own design with pattern and colour surface hardener choices. They were asked if it was also possible to print different shapes using different colours. After seeking advice from PICS and with the aid of some Picstain colour concrete stain, the final design was agreed.

The design required Minimix to create a river with a walk bridge to a sand pit, and some birds footprints with a bit of a blank canvass for the rest of the area. With the approval of the head teacher they decided to create that little bit more, and wanted to leave the school with something to be proud of.

With the general idea that almost anything could be printed into the concrete and picked out in acid to give the desired effect, it was decided that it would not be a jungle river without fish and crocodiles! The bridge was created with a pacific boardwalk imprinting mat and the river with a seamless texture skin imprinting mat, and using a split rubblestone imprinting mat for the surrounding area. A cycle path was printed around the area using a variety of colours and patterns. Along with the fish and crocodiles, they also printed a variety of leaves and birds feet and picked them out using a range of Picstain colours to give the desired effect. Works were completed in the middle of April 2006 and since then they have carried out another similar installation for Redhall School in Darlington.

Category 3
Roberto Pasqualotto & Dermot Cowper from North London for their photograph of a decorative concrete feature wall project (see below).

Roberto and Dermot’s Concrete Wall project was designed and hand crafted in Wandsworth South London. “The wall is a feature in the overall garden project which was undertaken. The idea behind the wall was to construct a physical barrier from the paved entertainment area to the garden beds. We wanted to design something unique. By using different angles and thickness, a window was also designed in the wall, so that the garden behind is still visible. We firstly formed the wall so that it could be poured all as on piece, (like one big piece of stone or granite), secondly we chose the different colours and sized aggregate for our design mix, for which we also used an oxide tint. The wall has both steel rods and fibre-mesh reinforcement, for strength and to minimize the structures movement. the concrete was hand-mixed accurately to the designed strength, and finally vibrated.

There are three different finishes on the various surfaces, the most appealing would be where we polished the concrete, so that the different granites are visible, which also has an extremely smooth texture. The front surface creates a unique contrast which was finished to a rough rock textured feel. The final surface we left natural once the formwork was struck, to show off the rawness of the material.

Another exiting feature of the wall are the lights, which give the wall a completely different character after dark. We installed four down lights in the top lintel of the window, and a strip light above the rebate inlay on the bottom. the lights reflect off the highly polished concrete surface.

We are extremely pleased with our concrete wall, and how it has added a unique feature to the garden, both in daylight and at night, and most of all it is a talking point to everyone who steps foot into the garden.”

Once again, the judges considered a number of criteria in their judgement of the photographs, including the degree of photographic composition of the individual shot, the surrounding landscape which framed the paving, the degree of individuality in the design and layout of the installation, as well as the degree of difficulty in achieving the desired finish and quality of workmanship. Having an installer on hand helped once again to answer a number of technical questions from the other judges.

All of this clearly helps the team at The Concrete Society see the quality, range and scope of work being carried out using colour surface hardeners within this small but growing sector of the decorative concrete paving market. Truly a Concrete Investment for all concerned!

It was pleasing to get entries from both new contractors as well as previous entrants, and particular interest was shown in the entries from Readypave from Whitchurch in Shropshire, for their church steps installation photograph (see right), Claptons from Grantham for their terrace garden using a combination of patterns and colours, and Alex Digby also from Shropshire for his patio installation.

For further information about the 2007 Golden Trowel Competition entry, contact John Grant @ PICS on 01635 202224.