I've been focusing on decorative concrete a lot lately, so I was very excited when I saw this beautiful concrete house on 4-construction.com.

Designed by Spanish architecture studio A-cero, this house, located in Madrid, is a wonderful example of what can be achieved with exposed concrete.

"The grey colour of the concrete that make up the whole building and an architectural wide black pergola, there [sic] are the elements that, at first sight, stand out in the house exterior. Furthermore, huge windows have been included in the façade in order to enjoy of the pleasant surrounding views of the house."

Many concrete homes try to cover up or compensate for artifacts of concrete construction, attempting to make the concrete look as smooth and finished as plaster or tile, so I particularly like that this house embraces those artifacts, celebrating them and making them part of the design. Look at this wall, for example:

Click here for full image.

Instead of a boring hard-troweled surface, there is an interesting design created that repeats throughout the project, inside and out, making it much more distinctive.

For the full slide show, click here.