9 Things About Concrete Cat

  1. Established in 2007, Concrete Cat is the studio of Shawna and Matt Heide. A place for them to experiment and make things together.

  2. Continuous improvement in the quality of work we produce and the processes we use to create it.

  3. We've worked with many talented designers, architects and artisans on projects of various scale; these experiences and relationships shaped us into the studio we are today.

  4. Human touch first. We make the work with our hands. Objects made by hand feel different, imbued with qualities machines could never hope to reproduce.  We also do all the packaging, sales, fulfillment etc. in Montréal QC, Canada.

  5. We developed the Oracleⓒ pattern; we’re the only artists in the world that produce it.

  6. 21 years married XO

  7. We designed a proprietary concrete mix that’s tailored to our process and the mechanical demands of the objects we produce, allowing us to soar to greater heights.

  8. The concrete we use is made of real stuff; rock, sand, cement, mineral pigment etc. 99% of it sourced in Canada.

  9. Steeped in the ancient roman science of concrete, we leverage an ancient alchemical process to create something new.

Past clients & collaborators include: Ace Hotel, Coming Soon NY, Facebook (Curated), Georgis & Mirgorodsky Architects, Hammer & Spear, Houseplant, PCL Construction, Peter Marino Architects, Seth Rogan, Tend Dental, Urban Outfitters, Kelly Wearstler

We're excited to share this CBC On Design Series by Sticks & Stones and CBC Arts

Explore the evolution of an idea and the path it takes to becoming an item in your everyday life — but that journey is rarely a straight line.

CBC On Design | This is concrete

What to Expect

Everything that Concrete Cat puts out is made by hand.  Here’s a list of things you should expect to see in handmade concrete work.

Every piece is unique
We’re not machines, even the copies we make contain artifacts of the process that happened on the day it was brought into creation.

Shape and texture
We design and fabricate our own molds. Molds change over time, they get better as they age.  As a mold ages it allows us to produce more complicated colour and pattern work on an object. For this reason we cherish our molds and treat them with respect, we repair them, every mold is precious.  We refine our molds with subtle changes over time.  This is the first reason every object is a little bit different from its family.

Voids
Concrete has air entrained withins its matrix, this is part of its nature. Sometimes this air manifests as surface voids.  Most voids add character, a fingerprint unique to each piece. We fill surface voids that we deem might limit a piece’s intended functionality. We fill voids if we don’t agree with their character.  Sometimes we fill voids in accenting colours to accentuate their beauty.  We embrace voids.

Quantum voids
Some voids impart their spirit on a reciprocal sibling.  This is a rare occurrence, auspicious and celebrated. A quantum void cannot be forced or requested by a customer.  

Blue ghosts
We love blue. Blue is irreplaceable. Blue gets blue on everything.  We remove as much blue as possible but we are not exaggerating by saying it gets literally everywhere.  Chances are if you look hard enough you will find a faint hint of blue somewhere, 99% chance, you may need a magnifying glass but it's there. 

Process artifacts
Concrete Cat’s process to call forth the Oracle pattern is a violent ceremony of chaos.  We work blindly in trust.  The destructive nature of trying to put a harness on chaos leaves a unique mark on every single thing we make.

Environmental changes
Changes in both temperature and humidity have an affect on colouration, we work with nature.

Dye lots
We mix and catalog all our colour formulas from primary colour mineral pigments.  We strive for consistency in our work’s colouration but we can only guarantee exact matches on objects that are made within the same quarterly dye lot.

Time marches
Our concrete objects are subject to the rigors of time.  Like all material goods they will age and change as they age.

Repairability
One of the many marvels of concrete is its ability to be repaired an infinite amount of times.  If you’d like your Concrete Cat goods to be repaired, refurbished or polished please reach out to us.