CPD Specifier May 2015 issue January 2015 | Page 8

Front Cover Story

GABIONS
The bright new face
in architectural
cladding

Maccaferri Gabions have found a new
aesthetic role in the world of architecture
and landscape, where they are helping to
create exciting construction features in
a wide range of structural and decorative
applications

Gabions have been a fimiliar sight in the British landscape for well over 100 years.
These simple stone filled, wire baskets perform brilliantly year-in year-out doing their usual job as a functional,
efficient means of retaining earth embankments, protecting vulnerable river banks and in other run-of-the-mill
ground-works projects.
More recently, Gabions have found a new aesthetic role in the world of architecture and landscape, creating
exciting construction features in a wide range of applications.
Here, CPD Specifier takes a look at the use of Gabions as a cladding medium, where there unique form, testure
and structural qualities provide a distinctive new dimension to the urban environment.
For those unfamiliar with the system, Gabions originated in Italy and were
invented by the parent company of Oxford based geotechnical specialists
Maccaferri. In colloquial Italian, Maccaferri literally translates as ‘worker
of iron’ and directly relates the company to its wire-working heritage.
Maccaferri has held the orig