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Jail House Rock JOHN GRANT, PICS LTD. Publication: Concrete
Tim Beech and Briony Moir, Hattrell & Partners, were aware of decorative and imprinted concrete as a result of its use some years ago during a refurbishment scheme at Strangeways Prison, Manchester. PICSPAVE or similar systems allow the specifier to select a secure and vandal-proof paving system that cannot be converted to missiles during disturbances. A key requirement of the design team and their client was to create a calming and secure environment for the courtyard areas, using designs and colours that complement the other materials on the project. All feature a charcoal antiquing effect. The largest courtyard of 270m2 was paved using a running bond brick design in deep red, complemented by a perimeter made up of sidewalk slate in platinum grey. The two other internal courtyards, totalling 180m2, feature curved patios complete with barbecues and seating in a brown boardwalk timber deck design with grey cobblestone. The surface of the imprinted concrete is sealed with a high-solids acrylic sealer to enhance appearance, ease maintenance and improve wearing resistance. This can be easily and inexpensively resealed every two years. The installation was carried out in two phases: Similar projects completed for clients in Oxfordshire and Essex with excellent results cut programme time by specifying in-situ concrete.
Several manufacturers are promoting coloured concrete finishes to the commercial construction market in the UK. They will shortly link up with the Ready-mixed Concrete Bureau (RCB) and the industry's most experienced decorative concrete contractors to form a decorative concrete paving association. This association will promote the generic specification of coloured and decorative concrete and act as an advisory body while establishing a quality threshold by way of NVQs, better concrete mix designs and standardised method statements. Such promotion will doubtless lead to increased specification of coloured and decorative concrete for the commercial paving market.
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It is unlikely that many 'guests' of the Nugent Care Society Secure Unit, located just west of Manchester, were rocking to Elvis Presley's greatest hits when the doors opened at the beginning of June. The £3.5m scheme has 12 suites constructed to a high specification and is an extension to an existing secure unit. Although such establishments are often associated with those committing criminal offences, many of those who are detained have behavioural or emotional difficulties, which lead to involvement in criminal acts. As a result of the needs of these young adults, the principal aim of a secure unit is to provide a safe, secure and educational facility to prevent those incarcerated joining mainstream crime. 
Moving the procurement and design of these establishments into the Private Finance Initiative sector has allowed new ideas and materials to be considered. Coloured concrete surfaces, whether imprinted or brush-finished, allow a more interesting hard landscaping scheme to be adopted within an acceptable budget. Integrally coloured or surface-applied colour-hardened concrete can be installed by any competent concrete finishing contractor with a minimum of direction from the system manufacturer. To achieve a high density and consistency of colour over a number of pours and to improve abrasion resistance, a colour-hardened surface finish is better than an integral colour. A practical benefit is that ready-mix concrete suppliers will not have to wash out their trucks after each load is batched. Regardless of the chosen colour, it is advisable to apply colour hardener at a rate of 5kg/m2. From tests, the compressive strength was 51MPa at 7 days and n.5MPa at 14 days, giving a relative density of 2450kglm3, as specified in BS 1881: Part 114: 1983 and BS 1881: Part 116: 1983.