American couple builds concrete castle

Robert Stock and his wife were married in a Scottish castle, and were so taken by the architecture of the castle that they decided to build their own using insulated concrete.

After getting married, the Stocks lived in Connecticut in the United States, and decided that they wanted their own castle built. After considering traditional building types such as timber frame and bricks, they decided that they would like a house that looked like a castle, but was completely made from concrete.

Whilst concrete flooring is common in a house, it is unusual to have residential property built from the material. They used local architect firm Leigh Overland Architect LLC to design the building with 11-inch-thick walls, a three-story turret and polished concrete radiant heated floors.

Concrete was chosen not only because the couple liked the look of the building, but because of its energy efficient properties. The Stocks had the building tested by the US Department of Energy, which found that their castle was 65% more energy efficient than the average American house. The building is also storm and fire resistant.

Most of the building’s heat comes from the radiant concrete flooring, which heats both upstairs and downstairs.

The castle was constructed in freezing temperatures and the builders were concerned that the concrete could be damaged, but probe tests proved that the material was sound.

The home was very cost effective to build when compared with more traditional house construction – so much so that the architects are now recommending insulating concrete construction to all their clients.