Showroom for creative conrete
A new showroom and an exciting new concept were launched in Johannesburg during September, and Floors in Africa was there to give you details of this interactive hub for the development of unique designs in concrete.

In anouncing this venture, Peter Norton said, "To most people, concrete is cold, grey and plain ugly. Concreate is here to show you that this is not the case and we can show you how to make concrete warm, coloured and textured and make it beautuful on walls, floors, countertops, tables, tables, chairs, loungers, desks, pots, driveways, patios, walkways and many other areas." Anyone can visit our showroom and experience the world of concrete and creation. Architects and interior designers are able to be inspired and create their unique designs using our products. Builders and contractors are able to offer clients attractive decorative finishes in their projects that are time-saving, cost-saving abd energy-efficient. Artidans are able to come to Concreate and be trained in the correct applicatione of the products. The Concreate concept originally started as a showroom that showcased decorative concrete and cement finishes. Whilst developing the showroom, we identified the need for training in the products. Whilst speaking to several suppliers we also identified that Concreate could be the ideal hub for brand association and the route to market for these companies and thus we started the BATS Concept - an acronym meaning Brand Association, Training and Showroom. To this end, we identified several partners for Concreate that have come on board using the BATS concept; these partner companies are non-competing and complementary to each other, helping to deliver the solutions our customers require. These include Weber - with cementitious wall coverings, self-levelling screed systems and grano floor systems; HTC - the Swedish company represented in South Africa by Pan Mixers SA for equipment and consumables used in the concrete polishing market; Speedheat - the local floor heating company; Cobra - the local giant in sanitaryware; and Grace Haven Industries (GHI) - the local supplier of frameless glass systems. Concreate has also partnered through local agency agreements with two American companies that are leaders in their self respective fields of decorative concrete: Buddy Rhodes has 25 years experience in developing a bone white malleable concrete mixture and mould system; and American Decorative Concrete Supply Company that produces the globally renowned range of concrete stains and dyes called Color Juice.