New impulses for color in construction

Press Release

11 Mar 2016

Cologne - At bauma 2016, LANXESS is demonstrating how inorganic pigments can add remarkable and lasting color to architecture and infrastructure. The specialty chemicals company, together with distributor Harold Scholz & Co. GmbH, is exhibiting its premium and globally proven inorganic pigments at this leading international trade show from April 11 to 17 in Munich, Germany. 

The extensive line of Bayferrox iron oxide pigments, which offers over 40 shades, and Colortherm-brand chrome oxide pigments help to make urban centers more colorful and attractive. With these products, aesthetic, safe and lasting design effects can be achieved in a wide variety of building materials, such as cast in-situ concrete, prefabricated concrete components, concrete roofing tiles, pavers and even asphalt.

Colored concrete for high-traffic areas

The LANXESS Colored Concrete Works initiative has been inspiring architects, planners and construction companies. One example is Rosenplatz in Osnabrück, Germany, where the use of colored concrete helped to combine design, appearance and function in ideal fashion as part of an urban renewal project.

Because of the demands of heavy motor vehicle traffic, and its intensive use as a multi-lane throughway, Rosenplatz, or “Rose Plaza,” in this major city in Lower Saxony was no longer a credit to its name. Over time, the former rose beds after which it was named gradually were replaced with dull, colorless asphalt and concrete. Architect Oliver Borman of yellow z urbanism architecture and landscape architect Martin Diekmann of lad+ Landschaftsarchitektur Diekmann implemented a design that finally made Rose Plaza more inviting again. 

One of the core design elements was concrete pavement colored with Bayferrox color pigments in four different shades of pink. Trees planted at irregular intervals, islands of greenery and the integrally colored roadway break up the monotonous look typical of many traffic areas. The result is a first in Germany in terms of both design and technical implementation. Thanks to a two-layer concrete paving method, the very unusual color scheme fulfills the high mechanical demands imposed on federal highways with truck traffic.

Detailed information on the project can be found in the “Rosenplatz, Osnabrück” case study. To mark BAUMA 2016, the latest issue in the LANXESS “Colored Concrete Works” series of publications will be available in nine languages as of March. It can be downloaded from the Internet, and print copies can be ordered by writing to [email protected]. All case studies of extraordinary buildings featuring colored concrete are available on the Internet at www.colored-concrete-works.com. The site also provides information on products, applications, technical services and more.

LANXESS' Inorganic Pigments business unit is the world's largest manufacturer of iron oxides and a leading producer of inorganic pigments based on chrome oxides. The IPG business unit is part of LANXESS’ Performance Chemicals segment, which recorded sales of EUR 2.2 billion in fiscal 2014.

LANXESS is a leading specialty chemicals company with sales of EUR 8.0 billion in 2014 and about 16,300 employees in 29 countries. The company is currently represented at 52 production sites worldwide. The core business of LANXESS is the development, manufacturing and marketing of plastics, rubber, intermediates and specialty chemicals. LANXESS is a member of the leading sustainability indices Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI World) and FTSE4Good.