HPC® / Hybrid Prestressed Concrete by kooge.co — IDREIT®

‘kooge.co’ manufactures and distributes HPC®, a prestressed concrete panel only 38mm thick with carbon strand as a tendon. kooge.co is a design project by Kooge Concrete, a company with almost 50 years of history in Tottori Prefecture.

The name HPC® is an acronym for Hybrid Prestressed Concrete, and the panel is manufactured by using a patented technology invented by Hybrid Prestressed Concrete OKINAWA co.ltd in 2015.

Masaki Yamane, the president of Kooge Concrete, recalled, “I was amazed when I first saw it in Okinawa, introduced by an architect we had worked with previously. At the same time, we always love new technologies and the innovative work that others have not done, so we decided to manufacture them ourselves immediately.

Fujio Kawamoto, who is in charge of the technical department, said, “The cover thickness of the HPC® is minimized by using non-rusting carbon strand instead of steel wire as a tendon, and achieved a thickness of 38 mm. The reason for the name ‘Hybrid’ is because of the unique formulation of the concrete, which includes an expander and polypropylene-based reinforcing fibres inside. One of the primary features is that it is concrete, but it has flexibility and tenacity.”

An example of using HPC® for the eaves of an apartment building. ©︎jin hosoya

A prototype of a prefabricated shed made of 40mm-thick HPC® panel. ©︎jin hosoya

Another key feature of this material is the ability to be customized because it is made to order. In a case where HPC® was used for the eaves of an apartment building, the carbon-infused essential part was 38mm thick, but the front edge was designed to be 15mm. Also, the idea of the prefabricated shed using HPC® for walls and ceilings has excellent potential for retail stores and commercial settings.