3 Tips for Designing a Durable and Attractive Concrete Building for Your Business 

When you own a thriving business, there may come a day when you get to open your own building. Whether you’re looking for more space to stock products, a storefront to greet customers, or an office space for workers, creating your own space is an incredible step as a business owner. If you’re looking to create something long-lasting and durable, don’t stray away from concrete structures. Here are some tips to help you design a strong and aesthetically pleasing concrete building for your business. 

Why Use Concrete? 

Before you get into the thick of designing, you might be wondering, why should we use concrete? There are many benefits to using concrete for new buildings. Concrete is incredibly durable and won’t need as many repairs down the line as some traditional materials might need. Concrete is also an incredibly sustainable material option. 

When you build with concrete, you’ll be able to create a structure that uses less energy for heating and cooling. Concrete buildings are very energy efficient, so not only are they better for the environment but they’ll help you save money on utilities along the way. 

It’s also a very versatile material so you can custom design the structure depending on your needs and aesthetic desires for your company. You can learn more about the benefits of concrete from the experts at FMP Construction. Now that you know more about concrete, we can get into design tips that will help you in the construction process. 

1. Find a Great Location 

Before you can start designing your concrete building, you need to find a location that you love. You’ll also need to make sure that you can get all of the correct permits for building and zoning in the location that you want. So if you think you’re going to need to create a large building, it may not fit on a small city street. Depending on where you are looking to build, there may not be too many location options available, so you’ll have to adapt to what is around. 

Your location should make sense for the type of business that you run. If you are building an office, you’ll have to consider parking access, or if it’s easy to get to on foot. As well as how the building will interact with other structures in the area. Once you find a location that fits your needs, you’ll be able to begin tweaking the design. 

2. Create a Building Plan 

Once you have a location, you’ll need to get a building plan. Every step of building a concrete structure will come with professionals you’ll need to work with. During the building plan phase, you will need to work with architectural engineers. They will know what the requirements of the design are going to be and if they’ll be able to meet all of those requirements. Your architectural engineers will also be able to scope out the property and figure out where the utilities and other important pieces will need to go like drainage. 

Once you finish the building plan, you can work with structural engineers. These are the experts that will figure out the requirements the structure needs to be built. They’ll be able to determine what type of foundation you’ll need for your buildings. As well as if the soil you are building on will be okay, and what you will need to do to prevent too much site damage. 

You can also begin to work with an architect at this point for the actual aesthetic design of a building. They’ll be able to let you know if specific design choices are possible and what you might be able to do instead if they are not. Depending on what type of business you run, you’ll have some different ideas for what you want the design of the building to look like. 

You can use concrete to stick to a more industrial design and feel. You can also pour it into unique shapes and build up interesting structures that may fit your creative aesthetic more closely. Just be sure to work with your architecture and engineering teams to make sure your ideas make sense and are doable. 

3. Put Together Your Construction Team 

When the plans and designs are completed you’ll need to work with a great team of construction professionals to get your concrete structure built. You should work with teams that are knowledgeable in the different methods of concrete design. Sticking to a building schedule can also help keep teams on track and avoid any construction delays. Make sure that you and your team obtain all of the proper building permits for your area. You want to avoid being hit with any fines or further delays from the city or town in which you’re doing construction.

Conclusion

There are many benefits to designing and building a concrete structure for your business. With a strong team of professionals, you’ll have a great concrete building ready to open in no time.