Composite building products are well understood to be light weight, strong and offer architects limitless design flexibility providing the designer and builder with an ideal building material for many applications. One aspect of composite use that is often inquired about is life span.
Composites are a relatively new when compared to concrete and steel so their useful life is not as broadly understood. Often when asked how long composite building materials will last the composite industry points to marine applications (sail and power boats) that have been in service since the early 1950s.
The new home with re-purposed fiber reinforced composite arches.
The above home was made using six fiber reinforced composite arches that were originally fabricated for a modular housing system designed by Diaz Infante in 1970. The fiber reinforced polymer arches outlived their original structures and have been re-purposed into a unique new design.
The original modular home development as designed by Diaz Infante in 1970.
A portion of the composite structure before refurbishment and re-use on the new home.
Composite engineers and fabricators will continue to be asked how long their products will last. They now have an excellent example of composite building materials in use for 40 years that have been recycled into an application with an expected useful life span of another 50+ years. I wonder what the next home built from these composite arches will look like!
(Note of thanks to the CompositesAndArchitecture.com site for posting on this topic and also to the design firm that did the work and photography, Productura-df.com.mx)
CompositeBuild.com 