Construction materials and technology: a look at the future

Driven by the twin pressures of increasing efficiency and sustainability, civil engineers are starting to move construction technology forward again after a century of relative stagnation. However, simply using stronger materials is no longer enough as these cost more to manufacture and are harder to recycle. Sustainability is the key, and designers need to look more to nature for solutions—not least the fibre-reinforced polymers which occur most frequently in nature as wood and bone. This paper reviews some of the new construction technologies and materials that may be used in the future—including a recently developed composite cellular building system and a skinned steel space frame—and demonstrates that ingenuity is alive and well in construction.