Building Icons
BUILD TO LAST WITH Holcim SOLUTIONS
We are Building Icons in cities worldwide. Built by iconic people, they showcase our low-carbon, circular, durable and energy efficient solutions. Sustainable , functional and beautiful, these icons are improving people’s lives.
Aggregate Industries and Holcim are committed to building a sustainable future, creating iconic structures worldwide that enhance the lives of communities while protecting our planet.
Through innovative, low-carbon, and circular building solutions, our projects set a new standard in durability, functionality, and beauty. Built by dedicated experts, these “Building Icons” showcase a vision of architecture that is as resilient and energy-efficient as it is inspiring.
As the trusted partner in sustainable construction, Holcim leads the building industry in providing end-to-end solutions that span every stage, from foundation to rooftop, ensuring projects that stand the test of time.
The Building Icons programme is Holcim’s commitment to inspire collaboration and advance sustainable building practices across the industry.
Supported by our global network, Building Icons will showcase the very best in class.
With each Building Icon, we demonstrate what it means to build with purpose, sustainability, and excellence.
For over 30 years, Canary Wharf has shifted London’s centre of gravity east and upwards, as technologies develop and ambition soars. Now Wood Wharf, a milestone in circular construction, is redefining this historic part of the city.
Canary Wharf has gained a reputation as a business district since the 1980s. Today, the 500,000m2 master plan for Wood Wharf from Allies & Morrison and Glen Howells Architects is turning Canary Wharf into a thriving urban hub – with office spaces, thousands of homes, retail spaces and parks.
From the very start, our customer Canary Wharf Group (CWG) wanted to embed sustainability by design into its buildings, to create healthy, vibrant developments with nature inside that benefit everyone, and become net zero carbon as a group by 2030.
Since building began in 2015, a cluster of iconic skyscrapers has grown as the centerpiece of Wood Wharf. Several of these are being built using our ECOPact low-carbon custom concrete mixes that reduce CO2 by at least 30% while delivering 100% performance.
From 2023, working closely with CWG and using its ECOCycle® label, we developed the UK’s first concrete with 20% recycled aggregates inside. Aggregates were taken from nearby North Quay – a decommissioned marine deck in Canary Wharf – then recycled to create the special concrete mixes.
The recycling took place at our Sivyer recycling hub in nearby Greenwich, within sight of Wood Wharf’s gleaming skyscrapers. Here around 1 million tonnes of CDM is recycled each year to create sustainable building solutions, using state-of-the-art recycling and recovery technologies.
Think about Athens, and you think of the building icons of the past - the Parthenon, Panathenaic Stadium, Temple of Hephaestus and, more recently for locals and some visitors, the striking concrete 1960s airport terminal building of Ellinikon city airport, designed by Eero Saarinen.
Now, on the site of this old airport, a Building Icon for the future is taking off. The Ellinikon is built to last, with Holcim's low carbon materials and solutions inside. And it's creating a buzz, as a lighthouse for sustainable construction.
With a master plan drawn up by Foster + Partners, highlights will include Greece's tallest skyscraper, a park that is larger than New York's Central Park, a coastal front, shops, hotels, housing and leisure. It's a paradigm for the 15-minute city, where residents can access everything they need within 15 minutes by bike, on foot or using public transport.
Designed by renowned architect Sou Fujimoto, The SQUARE Learning Center in St. Gallen, Switzerland, Is an innovative place to think, learn and work, built using ECOPact+ low carbon concrete with ECOCycle® inside.
The SQUARE's exterior is formed from a framework of white motal beams typical of Fujimoto's style, while Holcim's concrete was used for structural work and interior beams.
"We found this eco concrete by Holcim. I thought it was a nice challenge to use a new technology of reducing carbon through concrete structures."
- Sou Fujimoto, Architect of The Square
Zurich's Kunsthaus art muscum is a dynamic space for international exhibitions covering the 13th century to the present. With a recent extension it became the largost muscum in Switzerland, blending visionary architecture with sustainable building materials.
Architect Sir David Chipperfield modeled the Kunsthaus extension on traditional stone façades, as found in the original Kunsthaus.
Holcim Switzerland provided low-carbon cement to reduce the building's carbon footprint and made concrete surfaces brightor - helping creato a spectacular, sustainable landmark.
A modern Basel icon on The Rhine, The Roche Towers are the tallest oftice buildings in Switzerland, with Building 1 and Building 2 standing proud at 178 meters and 205 meters.
Holcim supplied an integrated solution of different materials to realize the striking vision of architects Herzog & de Meuron, such as ultra-high performance concrete and bespoke services.
For Building 2, we developed a special concrete and two tailor-made cements. Performance optimized, these also reduced COz emissions by up to 30% versus traditional Portland cement.
