PERI UK urges early planning for architectural concrete

PERI UK and RECKLI are urging contractors to assess architectural concrete finishes alongside formwork and construction sequencing, arguing that this can change how project costs are judged.

They say architectural concrete is often removed too early because teams focus on the upfront purchase price of liners rather than reuse rates, labour inputs and the risk of remedial work. The companies make the case as clients place greater emphasis on the appearance of bridges, railway structures, retaining walls, commercial schemes and public buildings.

Architectural concrete has long been associated with landmark schemes, where textured finishes and bespoke detailing are treated as optional extras. PERI UK argues that this assumption can lead contractors to drop design features before testing the practical options for delivering them on site.

Neale Beardsley, Head of Construction Accessories at PERI UK, said the problem is often not the finish itself but the way decisions are made around it.

"We regularly see architectural finishes being removed from projects before contractors have had the chance to fully evaluate how they can be delivered," Beardsley said.

"The challenge is not usually the finish itself. It is that the finish, formwork and construction sequence are often considered separately. Once those conversations happen together, opportunities start to emerge that were not visible before. One advantage of our closer collaboration with RECKLI is that contractors can come directly to us for both their formwork and architectural liner needs through a single coordinated process, making those conversations easier to have at the right stage of a project."

Cost focus

A central part of the argument concerns how contractors price architectural finishes. Buyers often judge a liner by its initial price per square metre, PERI UK and RECKLI said, even though the material is intended for repeated use across multiple pours.

The companies gave the example of a liner priced at about GBP £350 per square metre. Reused 10 times, they said, the effective cost falls to about GBP £35 per square metre. Reused 100 times, it drops to about GBP £3.50 per square metre.

That calculation matters because some contractors try to imitate a specified finish with site-made methods instead of buying a reusable liner. According to PERI UK and RECKLI, those alternatives can appear cheaper at first but may require more labour, produce less consistent results and create a greater risk of corrective work later.

On that basis, the companies contend that the financial question is not simply whether architectural concrete adds cost, but where that cost appears over the life of a project. Labour, quality control and programme risk can all change the comparison between a bought liner and a site-made substitute.

Integrated planning

The two companies said they have worked more closely in recent years so contractors can obtain formwork and form liners through a single route. The aim is to bring layout planning, reuse strategy, sequencing and installation requirements into one process before procurement decisions are fixed.

This is intended to give contractors earlier visibility of how a specified finish interacts with the formwork arrangement and construction sequence. If repeatability is built into the design from the start, the number of times a liner can be reused may increase, lowering the effective unit cost of the finish.

UCL East in Stratford is cited as one recent example of this approach in practice. RECKLI liners were used there to create a textured timber-effect finish in concrete.

Wider demand

RECKLI said the discussion reflects a broader shift in client expectations across concrete construction. Designers and asset owners increasingly want concrete to contribute to the visual character of schemes rather than serve only a structural purpose, it said.

Joe Russell, Technical Sales Manager at RECKLI, said the change is visible beyond the UK market.

"Across Europe, we are seeing growing expectations around the visual quality of concrete structures. Clients increasingly want buildings and infrastructure that contribute positively to their surroundings rather than simply fulfil a functional purpose. By approaching PERI directly to discuss formwork and form liners at the same time, we can help ensure those ambitions remain practical and commercially viable. Designing for repetition, reuse and efficient construction as part of the formwork strategy is becoming increasingly important in achieving that balance," Russell said.

The argument comes at a time when contractors are under pressure from labour costs, tighter budgets and compressed delivery programmes. In that environment, products or details seen as aesthetic can be among the first items reduced when teams look to save money.

PERI UK and RECKLI are seeking to challenge that pattern by shifting the discussion from upfront material cost to whole-project delivery. Their case is that architectural concrete should be judged not as a late-stage embellishment but as part of the wider construction method, with repeatability and reuse built into the plan from the outset.

"The question is no longer whether architectural concrete adds value. The question is whether projects can afford to remove that value too early in the design process," Russell said.