The Advanced Concrete and Masonry Centre is a specialist research body, within the School of Engineering and Science at the University of Paisley.

The centre is a partner in the Glasgow Research Partnership for Engineering funded by the Scottish Funding Council, as part of the Mechanics of Materials and Structures and Bioengineering Joint Research Institute. In 2004 a collaboration with the Mechanics and Materials group at Civil Engineering at the University of Glasgow saw the establishment of the Centre for Microstructural Modelling and Characterisation with funding from the EPSRC.

Research Focus

The group’s activities focus on the characterisation of construction materials at a range of scales from the nano to the macro-scale. The aim is to improve our fundamental understanding of the structure-property relationship and processes within materials, that control mechanical and durability behaviours across these scales. The staff expertise is complimentary to permit an expansion of such research work focussing on the cycle of characterisation through modelling to design of new materials. Additional research focuses on the properties of natural geomaterials and their relationship to performance in construction environments

Key themes are:
· Verification of new special materials designed and manufactured with desirable properties and performance characteristics, as a result of modelling activities, closing a full cycle of investigative-modelling activity.
· The investigation of special materials, for example high performance and self compacting concrete, traditional lime mortars tailored for compatibility, materials in extreme environments, control of durability through direct fabrication or adapted properties of existing materials.
· Development of an interdisciplinary approach to sourcing and interpretation of materials issues in building conservation, and their functional properties.
· Realising waste reuse and the development of binders for alternative cements in and novel geopolymers in support of environmental agendas.