Crowds flocked to the Phoenix Park over the June Bank Holiday weekend for the 11th staging of the Bloom Festival. Robin Shier, Andrea O’Sullivan & James Beaton of Concrete Design Studios were there as their innovative concrete products featured prominently in not one, but two gold medal winning show gardens.
As well as being business partners at Concrete Design Studios, Robin Shier and Andrea O’Sullivan have been lifelong friends since meeting at school aged just fourteen.
They graduated in 2003 during the height of the Celtic Tiger and found work in a large concrete company in Dublin.
Both started off working in technical roles; quality control technicians working closely with senior engineers at the plant before moving into production; batching and ‘shipping’ concrete to sites all over the city.
In late 2008 as the looming recession approached both were made redundant. Robin went to work for Ecocem, a company specialising in the manufacturing of high performance, environmentally sustainable cement whilst Andrea chose to further his education, studying Business at DCU.
A few years later, Robin became interested in the growing trend for polished concrete countertops spreading across the US and parts of Europe. He began experimenting in his garage and researching the market closer to home. He soon realised that his passion and knowledge of concrete could become a business opportunity.
Meanwhile Andrea, who had been keeping a watchful eye on the project with a shared enthusiasm, was coming to the end of his studies. It was around this time that the two friends began contemplating becoming business partners.
“We knew right from the start that we had a long road ahead of us. We already possessed a wealth of technical knowledge, which was a huge advantage, but the challenge then was applying that knowledge within a completely new environment,” explained Robin, the company’s co-founder.
They decided to be patient, rather than jumping into business they adapted Robin’s garage into a makeshift workshop and spent 18 months researching and developing their product.
“We started out making pieces for friends and family. As with most new ventures we made some mistakes early on, but we knew we would, this is precisely why we didn’t rush to market. We learnt a huge amount during those early days; in fact I truly believe that those experiences played a key role in getting us to where we are today,” revealed Andrea, the company’s other co-founder.
Whilst initially they had begun developing a wet cast product, continued research led them to Glass Fibre Reinforced Concrete (GFRC), a specialised form of reinforced concrete made by combining a mixture of fine sand, cement, polymer, water and alkali-resistant (AR) glass fibres.
Architects and engineers have long admired concrete for its durability and now they’re admiring it for a whole new wave of reasons. GFRC can be made in virtually any colour and in a multitude of finishes. It can be cast in thinner sections and is therefore as much as 75% lighter than similar pieces cast in traditional concrete. As you would expect GFRC is very strong. It can have a flexural strength as high as 4000 psi and has a tremendous strength to weight ratio. Unlike traditional concrete GFRC doesn’t crack easily and can be cut without the risk of chipping and since GFRC is reinforced internally it can be sprayed or poured into a mould, adapting to almost any complex 3D shape without the need for joins. Furthermore because it uses less cement than equivalent concrete and also uses significant quantities of recycled material, GFRC qualifies as a sustainable product.
Inspired by pioneers of the artisan concrete movement such as Fu-Tung Cheng, Brandon Gore & Buddy Rhodes, the pair studied with the Concrete Countertop Institute (CCI) in North Carolina and began adapting their processes in order to utilise this innovative material.
“We’re enormously proud of the standards of quality we set for ourselves. We’ve taken great care to develop our own proprietary mix designs and we source only the highest grade raw materials in order to guarantee the quality and performance of our product,” Andrea.
By this time Robin and Andrea had moved to a larger workshop and formed the company they operate to this day, Concrete Design Studios.
“Our journey was only just beginning but we had a vision and a belief in our product.” Andrea
Full of passion and excitement, the two began approaching interior designers and architects keen to promote their business and the product they had worked so hard to develop. The reception was more favourable than they could have hoped and they soon found themselves collaborating with some of the country’s leading creative’s.
“One of our first big breaks came about when we had an opportunity to work with Róisin Lafferty of Kingston Lafferty Design. She loved the charm and raw character of concrete and our product gave her the freedom to incorporate the material into her designs.” Robin
KLD commissioned Concrete Design Studios to fabricate the polished concrete and marble reception desk for Urbana Laser Clinic on Clarendon Street, a project which received an IDI commendation during last year’s IDI Awards as well as several pieces of work for a prestigious penthouse renovation for the Ballymore Group located on St. Stephen’s Green.
Concrete Design Studios has also been involved in numerous high profile commercial projects such as their collaboration with NYD to fabricate an impressive 50ft sweeping bar top for the ‘Maker Bar’ at the Jameson Distillery on Bow Street. The company has also produced bespoke work for several other notable Irish brands such as Eddie Rocket’s and Fallon & Byrne.
“We’ve received a great reception from the market and our concrete products have sparked a great deal of attention from high end designers. Quality is extremely important to us and we are very proud of the high standard of finish we deliver. We always seek to achieve our client’s vision, whether they are architects, designers or home owners, we aim to deliver the product they have in their mind.” Robin.
Commercial projects currently account for around 30 per cent of the company’s business, with residential projects accounting for the other 70 per cent.
“The residential market will always play a vital role within the business but our growth strategy currently incorporates a strong focus on growing the underrepresented commercial market,” explained James, the company’s head of Sales & Marketing.
The company has recently moved into a purpose built 2,500 square foot facility in Ashbourne, Co. Meath and expects to expand its workforce in order to cater to their growing demand.
With a string of exciting projects in the pipeline coupled with their strong showing at this year’s Bloom event, 2018 promises to be another successful year in what is surely to be a bright future for this burgeoning business.
Concrete Design Studios
Coolfore,
Ashbourne,
Co.Meath.
Telephone: +353 (0)1 685 9014
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.concretedesignstudios.ie
Taken from Building Ireland Magazine, July 2018, Vol 4 No 6
