Concrete accessories: How designers are bringing industrial chic into the home

The material is no long the domain of Brutalist architecture – designers are embracing its softer side

Designers love working with this versatile materia

Concrete was a strong presence at the recent London Design Festival: across the city, design junkies were shivering with pleasure at its cold, perfectly imperfect surfaces, or joyfully contemplating its sober and subdued character. And not just in flooring, wall panelling and high-end corporate pieces, but in quirky objects, basins, lighting and furniture for the home.

Designers love working with this versatile material; it can be cast in any shape, with so many possibilities for finish and tint. It’s a way to channel the organic qualities of natural stone while playing God with its final form. You can almost see why Sixties urban architects went crazy with the stuff, creating sprawling concrete jungles and Brutalist pubic buildings that dehumanised town centres across the country. But it seems the pain of that intense affair has subsided and we’re ready to love concrete again.

This time around, however, the emphasis is on its elemental quality in the mix with other, softer materials. “It is an industrial trend, but more mineral and sweeter than wood and metal,” said Xavier Dufour at Lyon Beton, a French concrete furniture specialist that works with designers on unusual cast objects. ‘‘Concrete is so neutral and discrete that it always gives extra value to everything that surrounds it. Oak and concrete match very well, concrete and metal, of course, are a perfect match and concrete and white porcelain are very good together.’’

UK company Lowinfo has created custom concrete pieces for clients such as Urban Outfitters and Aesop, who juxtapose it with plush, soft felt. Lowinfo is seeing an increased demand for the cool gravitas of concrete in people’s homes. Its Kast basins bring a pleasing natural order into the kitchen and bathroom in a range of tones. The company has cleverly linked up with Vola taps from Scandinavia, supplying an instant pop of electric colour and injecting a sense of fun into the greyness. Welcome back concrete, you still rock. Let’s try again – just keep it light, and don’t get all Brutalist on us.

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