{"id":7184,"date":"2026-01-22T09:57:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-22T06:57:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/maru.ee\/estonian-concrete-construction-experts-created-a-practical-guide\/"},"modified":"2026-09-01T14:48:39","modified_gmt":"2026-09-01T11:48:39","slug":"estonian-concrete-construction-experts-created-a-practical-guide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/maru.ee\/en\/estonian-concrete-construction-experts-created-a-practical-guide\/","title":{"rendered":"Estonian concrete construction experts created a practical guide"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The guide to concrete surfaces, <a href=\"https:\/\/betoon.org\/trukised\/betooniuhingu-juhendid\/\">\u201cB\u00dc4: Surfaces of Concrete Structures,\u201d<\/a> developed under the leadership of <a href=\"https:\/\/betoon.org\/\">the Estonian Concrete Association<\/a>, provides recommendations for quality agreements and offers inspiration, showcasing the architectural solutions that can be achieved with concrete today. <a href=\"https:\/\/mbt.ee\/\">Maru Betoonit\u00f6\u00f6d<\/a> contributed both to the content and by providing photographs of its projects.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to Taavi Varbi, head of Maru Concrete Works, who participated in drafting the guidelines, the impetus for creating the new guidelines came from a practical need that had already become clear in 2018 during the construction of the new building for the Estonian Academy of Arts, as the existing guidelines, dating from 2010, no longer corresponded to modern construction site practices. The guidelines at that time were essentially a direct translation of Finnish-language material, which in turn was based on outdated source materials. Varb noted that Estonia actually has even more experience than Finland today, as well as a wider selection of beautifully exposed concrete surfaces.    <\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Quality is a matter of agreement<\/strong><\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The working group, which had been active for three years\u2014and included representatives from concrete contractors, technical supervision agencies, designers, formwork suppliers, and other stakeholders \u2014 reached a consensus that the quality of concrete surfaces is not an absolute value, but rather a matter of agreement.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The central theme of this guide is the understanding that there is no longer a single, universal Class A or Class B standard today, v<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The underlying principle of this guide is the understanding that it is no longer possible or reasonable to apply a uniform and universal Class A or Class B standard today. Quality is defined by the satisfaction of the client and the architect, and the B\u00dc4 guidelines are intended to serve as a basis for defining the quality of specific concrete surfaces and for establishing clear agreements. <\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The guide is intended for all parties involved in the construction of concrete structures: clients, architects, general contractors and subcontractors, suppliers, and on-site workers. The working group also reviewed guidelines in use in Finland, Sweden, Germany, and England and found that classifying concrete surfaces is not a common international practice. The strength of the new B\u00dc4 guideline lies in its alignment with the actual conditions, tools, and materials found on today\u2019s construction sites in Estonia.  <\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Concrete as an Authentic and Honest Finishing Material<\/strong><\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The guide makes extensive use of local projects and photographic material, and essentially serves as a practical product catalog for architects, clients, general contractors, and concrete contractors. Instead of vague quality classes, readers can draw guidance from specific examples of projects completed in Estonia. Several outstanding examples of concrete architecture are featured, including the Rocca al Mare Private School, the white concrete bar counter at the \u00dclemiste Hotel, the Metropoli Hotel with its red concrete, the TTP building in Pirita, and the Estonian Academy of Arts building, as well as numerous apartment buildings and private homes.  <\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The guide makes extensive use of local projects and photographic material, and essentially serves as a practical product catalog for architects, clients, general contractors, and concrete contractors. Instead of vague quality classes, readers can draw guidance from specific examples of projects completed in Estonia. Several outstanding examples of concrete architecture are featured, including the Rocca al Mare Private School, the white concrete bar counter at the \u00dclemiste Hotel, the Metropoli Hotel with its red concrete, the TTP building in Pirita, and the Estonian Academy of Arts building, as well as numerous apartment buildings and private homes.  <\/p>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"1419\" src=\"https:\/\/maru.ee\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/BY4_esiKAAS-2025-e1769171212641.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1867\"\/><\/figure>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>The Estonian Academy of Arts building (Concrete Building of the Year 2018) is a fine example of Estonian concrete architecture; the monolithic concrete and precast work was carried out by Maru Betoonit\u00f6\u00f6d:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1620\" height=\"1080\" src=\"https:\/\/maru.ee\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Siim_Lovi-nr-68.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1869\"\/><\/figure>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1620\" height=\"1080\" src=\"https:\/\/maru.ee\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Siim_Lovi-nr-17.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1871\"\/><\/figure>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1620\" height=\"1080\" src=\"https:\/\/maru.ee\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Siim_Lovi-nr-14.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1873\"\/><\/figure>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1620\" height=\"1080\" src=\"https:\/\/maru.ee\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Siim_Lovi-nr-58.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1875\"\/><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The guide to concrete surfaces, \u201cB\u00dc4: Surfaces of Concrete Structures,\u201d developed under the leadership of the Estonian Concrete Association, provides recommendations for quality agreements and offers inspiration, showcasing the architectural solutions that can be achieved with concrete today. Maru Betoonit\u00f6\u00f6d contributed both to the content and by providing photographs of its projects. According to Taavi [&hellip;]","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":1870,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[257,261],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7184","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-maru-group","category-concrete-works"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Estonian concrete construction experts created a practical guide - MARU<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/maru.ee\/en\/estonian-concrete-construction-experts-created-a-practical-guide\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Estonian concrete construction experts created a practical guide - MARU\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The guide to concrete surfaces, \u201cB\u00dc4: Surfaces of Concrete Structures,\u201d developed under the leadership of the Estonian Concrete Association, provides recommendations for quality agreements and offers inspiration, showcasing the architectural solutions that can be achieved with concrete today. Maru Betoonit\u00f6\u00f6d contributed both to the content and by providing photographs of its projects. 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Maru Betoonit\u00f6\u00f6d contributed both to the content and by providing photographs of its projects. According to Taavi [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/maru.ee\/en\/estonian-concrete-construction-experts-created-a-practical-guide\/","og_site_name":"MARU","article_published_time":"2026-01-22T06:57:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-09-01T11:48:39+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1620,"height":1080,"url":"https:\/\/maru.ee\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Siim_Lovi-nr-68.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Kevin Roomet","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Kevin Roomet","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/maru.ee\/en\/estonian-concrete-construction-experts-created-a-practical-guide\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/maru.ee\/en\/estonian-concrete-construction-experts-created-a-practical-guide\/"},"author":{"name":"Kevin Roomet","@id":"https:\/\/maru.ee\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/0052a2f8831a6119b71fbe1a5550164a"},"headline":"Estonian concrete construction experts created a practical guide","datePublished":"2026-01-22T06:57:00+00:00","dateModified":"2026-09-01T11:48:39+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/maru.ee\/en\/estonian-concrete-construction-experts-created-a-practical-guide\/"},"wordCount":616,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/maru.ee\/en\/estonian-concrete-construction-experts-created-a-practical-guide\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/maru.ee\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Siim_Lovi-nr-68.jpg","articleSection":["Maru Group","Concrete Works"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/maru.ee\/en\/estonian-concrete-construction-experts-created-a-practical-guide\/","url":"https:\/\/maru.ee\/en\/estonian-concrete-construction-experts-created-a-practical-guide\/","name":"Estonian concrete construction experts created a practical guide - 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