Can concrete play a role in affordable housing in the future?

Pablo Moyano Fernandez, associate professor at Washington University in St. Louis, examines.

Pablo Moyano Fernández is an Associate Professor and founder of the Performative Concrete Hub (PCH). He brings extensive experience in architecture, having worked with international and national firms with a strong focus on construction. His teaching and research explore the performative qualities of concrete in building enclosures, structural systems, and other applications, leveraging innovative fabrication methods and novel concrete technologies.Through advanced studios and seminars, he investigates concrete’s potential across multiple scales—examining its impact on design, assembly, formwork innovation, and architectural expression. His research, supported by multiple grants, is complemented by built projects that demonstrate concrete as a resilient and sustainable building material. He recently designed and built Avis Spiralis, a bird blind structure constructed using an innovative casting method he developed.Pablo served as the faculty design leader for Washington University’s 2017 Solar Decathlon team, which developed CRETE House, a precast concrete home featuring an innovative enclosure system. The project earned second place in the Architecture Contest.His recent publications include “To Spur the Construction of Affordable, Resilient Homes, the Future Is Concrete” for The Conversation—a widely read article with over 30,000 reads—and scholarly work in The Plan Journal:“Opus Luteum: Incorporating a Third Dimension to Tilt-Up Concrete Wall Panels” (TPJ, Vol. 10 [2025], No. 1) and “Opus Versatilium: A Meta-Vernacular Approach for Contemporary Load-Bearing Walls” (TPJ, Vol. 9 [2024], No. 1), which was nominated for TPJ Best Paper of the Year 2024.

Wood remains the dominant material for single-family homes in the U.S., but it is often seen as “disposable”—lacking long-term durability and performing poorly under extreme weather such as flooding, hurricanes, and tornadoes. As these events grow more frequent, the vulnerabilities of wood construction become increasingly concerning.

Over 90% of new American homes use dimensional lumber for framing and plywood or OSB panels for enclosure. While light-frame wood construction is affordable, well supported by building codes, and familiar to builders, it burns easily, deteriorates with moisture, and is vulnerable to pests, mold, and wind damage. These weaknesses raise serious concerns about long-term resilience of homes.

Concrete offers a compelling alternative. It’s strong, durable, low-maintenance, and inherently resistant to fire, flood, pests, and severe weather. Yet concrete homes remain rare in the U.S., largely due to the reliance on labor-intensive cast-in-place methods, where formwork alone can account for up to 60% of construction costs.

My research focuses on precast concrete as a sustainable and affordable option. Unlike cast-in-place, precast components are made off-site in controlled settings, improving quality while reducing waste, construction time, and long-term cost.

In 2017, I co-led the team that created CRETE House, a prototype that withstood impacts equivalent to an F5 tornado. Building on that success, I designed the Compact House—a modular precast system for affordable and resilient housing.

Each unit is made of structural “rings” forming an airtight, energy-efficient shell. These rings can be mass-produced, shipped on standard trailers, and assembled in a single day. The open-source system allows any precast producer to adapt the molds, encouraging local production and cost efficiency.

Designed for lifespans exceeding 100 years, the Compact House reduces utility costs, maintenance, and insurance premiums. It represents a shift from short-term, disposable construction toward long-term resilience and equity—demonstrating that the future of affordable housing can be sustainable, durable and widely accessible.

Read More:[The Conversation] - To spur the construction of affordable, resilient homes, the future is concrete

Performative Concrete Hub

CRETE House

Using Concrete in a Smarter, More Sustainable Way

Roman-inspired concrete used in St. Louis bird blind | STLPR

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Pablo Moyano Fernandez, Washington University in St. Louis - Concrete, the Future for Affordable Housing

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Pablo Moyano Fernandez, Washington University in St. Louis - Concrete, the Future for Affordable Housing