Concrete glazing standardizes Geiserne in Horsens

Two “geysers” shoot up the ground on the Horsens waterfront. They are 11-story high and include 40 vast, exclusive apartments with high ceilings and plenty of space outside, on the balconies, which are all over 50 m². Arkitema Architects designed the building complex, naming it Geiserne.

Exposure to smog, dirt and grime
Horsens Harbour is among Denmark’s top 25 largest commercial ports. Therefore, building a white concrete building along the waterfront was a great challenge:

“When contractors hear about a white concrete building in a harbor environment, with a forest located within 4-500 meters and ships bringing dust, and so on, they know something must be done about the façade, because it must keep its pleasant aspect for a few years”, says Morten Langhoff-Jensen, project manager at CASA.

Various concrete materials
The balconies were the ones that were especially challenging for the contractor. Specifically, they should be built from a different type a concrete, which is more resistant. This created consistency problems:

“The two concrete materials in their natural form do not match. It is actually very difficult to make them like each other,” continues Morten Langhoff-Jensen, “so from a very early stage we were aware that something had to be done about the façade.”

Faceal Color concrete glaze
The contractor chose FACEAL Color for surface treatment. The impregnation standardizes and preserves the concrete structure, while protecting the building from smog, dirt and dust – not least from the many algae inherent to the harbor environment.

“It should not be a building painted in white. You would have to see that it is a concrete building. All Remove had a treatment that allowed the concrete structure to be kept in the façade. By using FACEAL Color, we obtained consistency in construction. And as an extra bonus, it it also stain resistant. All in all, it is a sensible product”, concludes Morten Langhoff-Jensen.