2 June 2025 · 5 min
Custom block as architecture, not cladding
A module, a void, an aggregate. Screen walls that belong to one house and one afternoon.
Decorative concrete block was a mid-century vernacular across the American West: cheap, structural enough, and good at making shade. The surviving walls are often better than the replacements. ArcSalt treats block as a designed unit — custom when the house deserves it, repaired when the original is still the right module.
Why not use catalog breeze block?
Catalog patterns are drawn for a national average. They rarely course with roman brick, they rarely take local sand, and their voids are often too cute to throw a serious shadow. A custom module can match an existing course height, frame a plant, or hide a car without announcing itself as a motif.
How is custom block made?
Small runs can be cast in molds; some walls are laid as unique units. Mix design — cement or lime, aggregate, pigment — is part of the drawing. The face can be smooth, board-formed, or exposed aggregate. The void is the real design: what light does at 4 p.m. in October in Golden.
ArcSalt is a design studio in Golden, Colorado. Start a conversation · info@arcsalt.com
- custom block
- masonry
