Breckenridge Material Company Turns Concrete into Art for St. Louis Art Museum Expansion

Breckenridge Material Company, a St. Louis-based supplier of ready mix concrete, has been put into the spotlight for its creation of a unique self-consolidating concrete (SCC) mix used in the recent $130 million, 200,000 square-foot St. Louis Art Museum expansion.

The SCC mix used for the coffered ceilings was engineered to meet the strict design standards required by the project's renowned British architect, Sir David Chipperfield. To create the unique SCC mix, Breckenridge Material Company used a variety of different ingredients, including titanium dioxide which was specifically used to enhance the reflectivity of the final product in order to achieve the optimal light reflectivity required by Chipperfield's designs.

"The architect wanted the coffered concrete ceiling to have a finished and polished look to it, in addition to a very specific light reflectance property that would provide the best ambient conditions for viewing the art," said Jeff Whidden, Senior Vice President of Breckenridge Material Company. "Breckenridge was delighted to be part of the team in constructing the next chapter for this iconic St. Louis landmark and we look forward to the opening of the new building this summer."

The 40,000 square-foot coffered ceilings in the new addition of the St. Louis Art Museum serve multiple purposes beyond that of traditional structural concrete coffers. The SCC mix was designed to provide the optimal combination of natural and artificial light for viewing art. The concrete mix offers a light reflectance of over 55 percent. In total, the SCC was used to create 698 separate coffers.