Heralded as the fifth element of the construction world, Luccon, a revolutionary concrete from HiedelbergCement, has been generating keen interest from designers and architects alike.

GáÃermany’s HeidelbergCement has come up with a revolutionary kind of concrete called Luccon or translucent cement, an innovative building material that is expected to offer a new dimension in construction and be popular with architects and designers, despite the high price.
The product uses light-conducting fibres to transform concrete from a heavy building material into a feather-light fabric – at least in the eye of the beholder.
Luccon is being heralded as the “fifth element” in the construction world and the equivalent of ‘haute couture’ in building material’, according to HeidelbergCement.
It is made of fine-grained concrete and synthetic fibre material, which is cast in prefabricated moulds.
“Since the proportion of the synthetic fibre is relatively low and because of its very small diameter, the strength and durability of translucent cement is equal to conventional cement,” says Andreas Nordmann, chairman and CEO of LIP-based in Abu Dhabi, which has recently taken up the distributorship for Luccon.
“This invention throws up exciting possibilities for both designers and architects. You can use the material for vanity tops and have the light filter through from beneath. You can clad pillars with it or use it as a door for a changing room and watch the interesting interplay of diffused light and shadow as people move behind it,” says Nordmann.
While production hitherto has been very time-consuming and expensive, HeidelbergCement has developed a semi-automatic production process, making it significantly easier to integrate the light-conducting elements into the concrete. In the future, the production will be simplified further, says Heidelberg.
“To produce Luccon, a specially-developed webbing made from light-conducting fibres is used,” explains Jürgen Halm, a specialist in “exotic” concrete applications and processes in the Development and Applications Department at HeidelbergCement. “The uniform arrangement of the material gives a high degree of translucency.”
The individual pieces of webbing and the special fine-grain concrete are inserted alternately, layer by layer, at intervals of approximately 2 to 5 mm. The more densely the layers are packed, the more light the concrete allows through. Just a small percentage of the material is sufficient to produce this amazing effect.
The virtually loss-free light conduction through the optical fibres allows light, shadows or even colours to be seen through the concrete – even with thick walls. Whether daylight or artificial light, white or coloured – light is transported without any loss from one side of a concrete wall to the other, he says.
While its tensile strength, resistance and conductivity are similar to concrete, its unique structure is embedded with a specially-developed webbing of light fibres which make for a whole new experience. The strength of Luccon is comparable to that of high-strength concretes, as the number of light-conducting fibres is relatively small. The resistance of the fibres has already been confirmed by means of appropriate studies and expert opinions, he says.
Since mid-September last year, HeidelbergCement has been producing around 4 to 5 cu m Luccon per month, in co-operation with an Austrian partner.
Luccon is sold in panels cut to size. However, all common methods for processing concrete, such as sawing, grinding, drilling and polishing are also possible with Luccon. Custom-made products (different sizes, thicknesses and colours) can also be made available on request.
At present, it is available in three standard sizes of 25 by 50, 30 by 60 and 30 by 90 cm, at a thickness of 2.5 to 10 cm. Other dimensions are available on request. To begin with, Luccon is only produced in the colour “lava grey”. The surface is polished, but the slabs are also available with semi-gloss or high-gloss polished surfaces.
“We aim to produce larger formats in the future,” says Halm. “Translucent concrete is intended for much more than simply brightening rooms. Rather, Luccon is the solution for every ambitious planner, architect or designer who wants to resolve the contradiction between concrete and translucency. Even metre-thick concrete structures can achieve the lightness of Japanese rice paper walls.”
The applications of translucent concrete are virtually endless. “Room dividers, stairs, high-quality interior furnishings and exclusive fixtures and fittings for wellness areas are already being planned. The first projects have already been implemented”, states Halm.
The future definitely holds a few translucent buildings on the horizon – those that allow daylight to filter in, in the mornings and incandescent light to penetrate to the outdoors in the night.
But for now that appears to be a long way off. The high cost of production makes Luccon still an ‘exclusive’ material that is chosen by designers and architects only for their top-of-the-range projects. With time however, that is bound to change.