Circular Paving Projects
About thirty years ago, Bradstone came out with a new concept in paving slabs – a pre- formed kit comprised of a number of shaped units made from concrete, in two sizes, as circles @ 2.4m and 2.7m wide, and by adding a ‘corner kit’ of additional shaped segments, enabled a designer to use their imagination by adapting these kits into various alternative shapes, a few of which are shown in this article.
The original kits were made from concrete, and produced in several colours depicting natural stone materials, to suit the style of garden or location, representing Hamstone and Yorkstone among others. Other manufacturers followed suit over the years. They were sold in packs, pre-palleted and shrink wrapped as a unit.
Although they look very straightforward to work with, there are a couple of important tips to take into account when laying concrete circles; the larger ‘outer’ pieces are manufactured slightly thicker than the inner segments, and care should be taken to allow for the extra thickness when deciding on the laying bed depth, especially when working on an existing concrete base with little scope for adjustments.
The second is the recommended laying procedure. Do not begin laying the slabs into a mortar bed until after you have ‘dry laid’ all of the inner two rows of segments, taking care to adjust the pointing gaps. This involves pulling and pushing them until all joints are equidistant, otherwise you will end up with a mismatch once you try to close the gap between the last couple of slabs.
Take care too, to orientate the circle to match existing visual lines, as the feature has a strong dominant line running through and across the pattern. Unless you recognise this feature, once laid, the circle may appear disorientated when viewed with other lines in a design.
Once you have completed the laying of the first two rows, the outer row/s are more easily adjusted as the joints will be obvious.
Most circles have additional ‘squaring off’ kits available, to produce square paving projects that may be included into a larger patio design, or part of a footpath.
The centre section may be left out and treated as a planter, or circle around a feature tree (although care must be taken to ensure the trunk will not become too large and disrupt the paving).
Today, circular paving kits are available in a number of natural stones as well as concrete, especially shades of sandstone. These tend to be mono-sized with no need to worry about the varying thickness of concrete products.
As you will see from the Alternative Uses ideas, circles may become a set of steps, a corner feature for a planted urn, or even a raised dais or podium, with each ring set higher than the lower one, using snap-header (half) bricks or slips of natural stone as risers a feature to show off a piece of sculpture or a collection of planted pots.
