Glass Reinforced Concrete (GRC) is a versatile and increasingly popular building material with a wide range of uses. Renowned for fantastic cost-saving and eco-friendly qualities that set it apart from traditional building materials such as pre-cast stone, more and more people are choosing this alternative for their planning and building works.

Lightweight yet sturdy, malleable yet durable, there are a variety of reasons why you should choose GRC for your next domestic or commercial building project. But to help you get to grips with the reasons behind using glass reinforced concrete instead of other materials, let’s take a look at some of the main benefits and features.

Lightweight But Durable

Weighing an impressive 80% less than pre-cast concrete, it’s easy to see why GRC is so popular in the construction industry. However the process of manufacturing this material ensures that its lightweight nature doesn’t compromise on durability. By spraying resistant glass fibres into the cement mix, the process serves to reinforce the material with rustproof, sturdy fibres to make it a long-lasting solution for any construction needs. Plus, by offering a lighter-weight building material it makes the construction of walls, foundations, panels and cladding much easier and quicker, allowing a more rapid construction process with impressive results.

Versatile and Malleable

One of the major benefits of using GRC is its versatility to mould it into any shape or size, and even alter the colour and texture where required. In fact, it can be manufactured to replicate almost all types of natural stone. For unique and grand design projects, it is therefore a flexible choice of building material that expands the horizons of architects and stonemasons; it gives specialists far more potential to be creative in construction than is usually possible with pre-cast concrete. As such, its uses are diverse from cladding to bespoke carved stonework and much more. When completed by a specialist glass reinforced concrete contractor, the results are seamless and durable.

Eco-Friendly Building Solution

Several factors combine together to make GRC a more environmentally friendly building solution than using traditional concrete and natural stone. Whilst the latter is inevitably a limited (and therefore much more costly) resource, concrete production contributes a huge amount to global carbon emissions. The concrete composition of glass reinforced concrete is much lower, and on top of the lower emissions in production, the product’s lightweight quality ensures that transport and construction emissions are lower too. As such, it is widely recognised at the building material of the future, making it popular for use in commercial, public and domestic projects alike.

Choosing the materials for your building project, however big or small, is a crucial one that can impact the cost, time scale and even feasibility of your designs. As a lightweight, affordable, and long-lasting material that can look equally impressive as natural stone or any other alternative, it’s no wonder that GRC is growing to be the leading product for manufacturers, architects and construction companies around the world.

Article written by Kelly Gilmour-Grassam who is a Yorkshire lass who loves travelling combined with the eating of fine food. Kelly had helpful info from Henley Stone.