Deakin University

The main administration building was the “iconic” building on the campus & accordingly the Architect chose a polished finish using off-white granite in imported white cement. White cements vary considerably in strength gain (important for daily mould cycles) & in “whiteness” (determined by an index with pure white being 100%). After considerable research Bianco Precast sourced a white cement that had the highest 24 hour strength gain & registered 92% on the White Scale ( less than 1% below the best performing White Cement which unfortunately had inadequate 24 hour strength gain for efficient precasting).  

The other significant features of this building are the 9 storey high free standing walls at each end. These are clad each side with polished panels which act as lost formwork for the 600mm thick reinforced concrete walls. The Builder met the serious challenge of constructing these walls without any external fixings / formwork bolts etc being visible in the final structure.