Say it With Concrete

C.S.W. Creations recently had the opportunity to help with a beautification project taking place in an area of Downtown Houston called East End. Local artists and trades people have come together to revitalize the esplanade along Navigation Boulevard which is scheduled to be open to the public in the third week of October.

A variety of functional street art installations with themes relating to Houston history and the ethnic groups that built the East End have been added to the area. C.S.W. Creations contributed by creating 19 concrete benches that display various inspirational phrases in both English and Spanish using playful, three-dimensional typography. A local artist from Katy, Anthony Shumate Thompson, created the design of the benches and C.S.W. partnered with him to fabricate them. The benches range from 48" to 72" in length and were poured in four colors that coordinate with surrounding artwork.

According to C.S.W. the forms were created by making a rectangular box out of melamine then placing foam cutouts of the words, created with a CNC machine, along both sides of the benches. The benches are made from traditional wet-cast concrete and have a foam core in order to reduce the weight. Even with the foam core, the benches still weigh between 500-900 lbs. Dry pigment purchased from Blue Concrete was used to create the integral color of the benches. Once the benches were de-molded, their surface was hand-honed to remove any sharp edges and then sprayed with an anti-graffiti sealer.

ContractorAndrea Haley
C.S.W. Creations
Katy, TX

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