CEMEX’s Insularis® Enables New State-of-the-Art Structure for Eco-Friendly High School in Barcelona, Spain

CEMEX’s Insularis^® concrete technology offered the school a construction solution addressing the desired thermal insulation and energy efficiency requirements.

Trasbordo Arquitectura, an architectural studio based in Madrid, Spain, challenged CEMEX to create a state-of-the-art, lightweight, white building material with low thermal conductivity, capable of satisfying the demanding aesthetic and sustainability requirements of the proposed new classroom building for the high school at the Oak House School Foundation in Barcelona, Spain.

CEMEX Research Group researchers and engineers met the challenge, formulating and tailoring their advanced Insularis^® concrete technology to fulfill the project’s specific needs. Utilizing advanced mix design principles and proprietary admixtures, the solution resulted in a lightweight structural, self-consolidating white concrete. The fresh properties of CEMEX’s white Insularis^® self-compacting concrete were designed to offer workability retention of at least 90 minutes, ease of pumping, and rapid consolidation, leading to more efficient, rapid casting.

The Insularis^® solution yielded a concrete with thermal insulation and structural performance superior to the current state-of-the-art concrete. More importantly, Insularis^® also helped reduce thermal bridges, critical criteria for achieving thermal insulation, and provided improved acoustic insulation—important attributes for a school.

In addition to the functional requirements, there was an aesthetic consideration: the client requested white concrete. Laboratory materials design experiments, coupled with in situ industrial-scale trials, were key to achieving a wall with an innovative, lightweight structural concrete that provided both an exterior and interior white finish.

One of the features that makes this classroom building so special is that its energy efficiency is enhanced thanks to the synergistic use of geothermal energy for air conditioning and CEMEX’s Insularis^® concrete technology. Due to the unique sustainable construction and design, the building is positioned as the first school in Spain to potentially receive the Green Certificate from the Green Building Council—an entity which recognizes environmental sustainability in construction in order to improve the quality of life of its users.

According to Albert Gomez, Commercial Managing Director for CEMEX in Catalonia-Aragon, “With Insularis^®, CEMEX offers its customers a technology for unique and innovative thermal insulation, taking concrete to a new level of sustainability, energy conservation, and adaptability for the customer.”

Through such revolutionary advances in concrete technology, CEMEX is positioning itself at the forefront of the industry, designing and developing unique, integrated, value-added construction solutions that defy the status quo and meet its clients’ evolving needs—now and into the future.

CEMEX is a global building materials company that provides high quality products and reliable service to customers and communities in more than 50 countries. Celebrating its 110th anniversary, CEMEX has a rich history of improving the well-being of those it serves through innovative building solutions, efficiency advancements, and efforts to promote a sustainable future.