Luccon translucent concrete: an innovative construction material 

Translucent concrete will make concrete surfaces transparent. In hotels, offices, bars, as well as in malls and shops, there are numerous applications for translucent concrete in its many varieties. Striking light effects create an extraordinary ambiance and attract the attention and interest of guests and customers.

 

Customer-specific concrete formulation

Translucent concrete made by the Austrian-based company Luccon is one of the most innovative building materials developed in recent years. From the very beginning, BASF’s Construction Chemicals team participated decisively in the development process. The greatest challenge was in devising the optimum concrete formulation, as the concrete was to be both translucid and of high strength. In cooperation with the concrete laboratory and BASF application engineers, it was possible to produce an extremely fine-grained and highly flowable concrete. In this, the Glenium ACE admixture ensures proper consistency and high strength, and RheoMATRIX and Glenium Stream provide the concrete with both stability and good workability. To make the concrete transparent, a specially devised procedure is employed: The virtually lossless conduction of light through optical fibers makes it possible to see light, shadows, and even colors and pictures through the concrete.

Intensive, long-term cooperation with the customer

 BASF’s services for Luccon went well beyond the supply of concrete admixtures. Apart from almost weekly advisory meetings and the support from the concrete laboratory, the BASF team arranged contacts and helped actively in marketing the translucent concrete.
This intensive cooperation will carry on into the future. The long-term joint development of translucent concrete will continue, as will the permanent improvement of the concrete formulation.