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Architecture vocabulary · Materials and Construction

Reinforced concrete

Meaning in architecture, with examples

nounCore term

In architecture, reinforced concrete means: Concrete with steel bars or mesh cast inside it; the concrete resists compression and the steel resists tension, which makes strong beams, slabs and columns possible.

In Turkish: betonarme

How it is used

The most common structural material in Turkey and much of the world, often shortened to RC. Engineers design the reinforcement; architects decide where concrete stays visible. Fair-faced or exposed concrete is concrete left uncovered as a finish.

Example sentences

  1. The frame is reinforced concrete, with brick infill walls.

  2. Most apartment blocks in the city have a reinforced concrete structure.

Common collocations

  • reinforced concrete frame
  • reinforced concrete slab
  • cast-in-place concrete
  • exposed concrete
  • slabA flat horizontal structural element, usually of reinforced concrete, that forms a floor or roof and spreads loads to beams, walls or columns.
  • columnA vertical structural member, usually of concrete, steel or timber, that carries loads from beams and slabs down to the foundations.
  • steel frameA structure of steel columns and beams joined together, which carries the floors and roof and makes large open spaces and tall buildings possible.
  • BrutalismA style from the 1950s to the 1970s known for heavy, bold forms and raw, exposed concrete, often used for housing, universities and public buildings.
  • structural systemThe set of connected elements, such as foundations, columns, beams, walls and slabs, that carries a building's loads safely down to the ground.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Materials and Construction

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