MASS Puts on Winning Display at The Hayward

A stunning new café-bar inside London’s Hayward Gallery, is providing a dramatic showcase for MASS, the pure hi-tech concrete surface.

The day café and late-night bar, named Concrete, stands out for its uncompromising back to bare essentials look – a theme that echoes the 1960’s raw concrete architecture of the Southbank Centre.  Its interior has been stripped back to expose the original concrete walls and here MASS have created a bespoke concrete bar to blend-in.

“The designer wanted a rougher looking concrete finish, with holes and bubbles, as opposed to our fine and flawless standard finish,” says Chris Smith-Wright, operations director at MASS.  “It was a fascinating brief with an impressive outcome – we were very proud to be specified for the project.  It gave us the chance to show the bespoke nature of our product and how our unique surfaces can look fantastic in all types of buildings.”

MASS is a new generation of hi-tech concrete.  The material is not the typical hard-edged raw stuff, but a calmer and surprisingly sensuous hi-tech concrete, suited to worktops, stair treads, feature walls and the softer living area.

It uses a patented, laminated concrete technology that produces a light, yet strong and durable surface material.  MASS is heat resistant up to 200oC and very stain resistant, so requires little maintenance.

Its standard finish is silky satin – a contemporary look that compliments glass, stainless steel and timber.  Unusually for a cast product, MASS surfaces are velvety to the touch, with the randomness of silica and the character of a hand-crafted product.

Those unique qualities have made MASS a market leader.  It features on projects such as the National Gallery, Armani, Hilton Hotels, headquarters for Arup, Hammersons and Stanhope, and hundreds of bespoke kitchens.

The Hayward project is a classic example of what MASS can do.  The gallery’s extensive use of concrete is clearly visible in the café-bar’s interior.  MASS had to fit into that with a meticulous design brief.

“The idea was to create something that felt as though it had always been there,” says architect John Foden of London design consultancy Fourmation. “We used a very small palette of highly functional materials and interesting items to create an eclectic space with an informal and relaxed feel.”

MASS worked with Fourmation to produce a bar that looks as if it were part of the building.  The bar looks like a solid lump of concrete, but it’s made of sections that were light and easy to handle.

“MASS is a very interesting, clean product that does its job extremely well.  It’s highly durable and non-porous, which is perfect for a bar top and surround,” says John Foden.

“The people at MASS were excellent and one of the best suppliers we’ve ever dealt with.  The bar worktop and surround turned out exactly as planned and the installation was spot-on, which is quite amazing considering the tolerances of concrete.”