Buildings do not need to look as boring as boxes

In all Baltic countries, which Bauroc considers its home market, AAC is a well-known material with considerable market share among other lightweight concrete products. Bauroc´s clients are appreciating more than ever the main advantages of AAC as a construction material, which represents excellent thermal insulation and fire resistance, safety in terms of both health and ecological impacts, and high resource efficiency. 

The Baltic countries all have a similar economic structure. Almost all industry sectors, including the construction industry, have flourished over the last few years, and both salaries and product prices have been growing steadily. At the same time, the Baltic region’s House Affordability Index (HAI) has increased, which means that an increasing number of people can afford to buy a home for themselves. 

Bauroc was established in 2001 and has since then experienced continuous progress in product development. As a result, the product range has significantly increased over the years. The bauroc product portfolio includes a wide range of block products, reinforced lintels, large roof and wall elements, dry mixes, construction equipment and accessories for installing the products. 

The brand name “bauroc” and the companies´ identity stand for the wide range of building materials produced from AAC. bauroc products can be used everywhere in the building industry, including construction of private homes, multistorey buildings, agricultural structures, and industrial facilities. 

Because of the excellent versatility of AAC as a building material, bauroc products have been used for complex architectural features for decades. It is possible to build curved and intersecting walls with different angles, because it is easy to very precisely cut the blocks into the required shape. A private home in South-Estonia, which resembles a medieval castle is an excellent example of this. bauroc AAC products were used not only in structural elements but also in decorative and architectural features, both in exterior and interior members. Decorative elements in various sizes were produced on site by cutting and milling larger elements into the required shapes. To ensure a reliable and long-lasting result, these elements were attached to the walls using bauroc thin layer mortar. It was no coincidence that AAC was identified as the material of choice for the structure. The main problem to be solved was related to cornices, which had to be massive in size and look like they were chopped from rocks, resembling ancient and traditional building practices. In addition, it was evident that insulating the house was not an option, as this would not have suited the architectural design. However, the winters in Estonia can be very cold. Based on these requirements and restrictions, and after talking to acquaintances who had experience in using the bauroc system solutions, the owner decided that AAC offered the best material properties for the project.

The house is located on the plot where the Valgejärve manor was built in 1553. This location was consciously chosen by the owner, who decided to build a new house in neo gothic style. Old manor house was rebuilt during Soviet times and was lacking cultural and architectural significance. The ideas for the house took shape in the owner’s imagination, while a close relative, who is an architect by trade, put them to paper. The main source of inspiration was the Alatskivi manor in Estonia, which is a copy of the Balmoral Royal Residence in Scotland.The owner of the house gave the following account of the construction process: “I very clearly remember the morning when I for the first time switched on the bauroc band saw. After finishing the first few cuts, I realized that it is possible to create any conceivable shape without considerable effort. The milling cutter allowed me to process the stone in any way I wanted. I felt very happy and proud. During the next few nights, I even was dreaming of operating the band saw and milling cutter. Since it takes time and patience to create 100 elements, each of them consisting of 3 layers and 4 milling cycles, I hired and educated an assistant who prepared all the carvings for the house, spending 10 hours per day over a period of 3 weeks.” The owner of the house has enjoyed the whole process of construction and has gained a lot of experience and confidence by doing most of the work himself. He feels a passion for construction and after this experience he is now ready to create something similar for other people who may be interested in building a very unique house.

The manor house shown in the photographs was built with bauroc ECOTERM+ blocks, with 500 mm in thickness. For the construction of energy-efficient houses, bauroc ECOTERM+ blocks with an average density of 300 kg/m^³ are commonly used in single-layer external walls without any extra insulation. Different sizes of reinforced bauroc lintels with lengths up to 4.8 m were used for bridging the door and window openings. In addition, bauroc partition wall elements with a thickness of 100 mm and a density of 450 kg/m³ and bauroc universal blocks with a thickness of 200 mm and a density of 375 kg/m³ were used for inside walls and also for cutting and milling the decorative elements of the house.

Bauroc AS

Andja, Rakvere vald

44209, Estonia

bauroc@bauroc.eu

www.bauroc.eu