As Trueform Concrete’s creative director, Paul Grech has worked with numerous designers and architects to reimagine the brand’s proprietary Glass Fiber Reinforced Concrete (GFRC) mix. However, when Leyden Lewis approached the brand to collaborate on a fireplace surround for aspire design and home’s 2025 showhouse, The Art of the Home, Grech knew he was on the cusp of greatness.
“In my ten years at Trueform, I’d never seen anything even remotely like that pass through our fabrication team,” he says. “The way Leyden’s shapes and forms billowed out of the firebox like calcified heat; there was something new and otherworldly here.”
Lewis, a designer based in Brooklyn, said the gently curved surround came to him when renovating a 1920s Emery Roth-designed building. The vision: To reimagine an Art Deco relic through an African-influenced, modernist lens. But for Grech, the concept was “an art sculpture masquerading as functional cladding.”
“It struck me that a design like this needed to be celebrated,” he shares. “Broadcast into the world. And that Trueform needed to be the team to facilitate.”
The final product — now a trio of surrounds that comprise the Wabele Collection — is one of Trueform’s most ambitious offerings. For starters, each model consists of four pieces that need to fit together coherently. Another thing to consider: The organic shape of each individual piece.
“Wabele fabrication is a rigorous process that requires several steps spanning a period of about a week, each of which must be approached with the utmost fidelity,” Grech explains. “Concrete fabricators are unicorns in the manufacturing world because a large percentage of the pieces we create are custom, meaning they have never been made before.”
It’s a complex and time-consuming endeavor, but Grech says Trueform’s adaptability and pursuit of refinement made it the perfect brand to take on the challenge. “Each day in our shop is unique,” he says. “Over the course of a typical day, we might cast several sinks, commercial countertops, a dining table, a custom fireplace, a reception desk, and other objects.” The meticulous finishing process — in which no pore is overlooked — also distinguishes the brand. “People tend to recognize a Trueform product when they see it,” he adds.
Exceptional craftsmanship and quality are non-negotiables, but so is sustainability. Not only are pieces cast as thin as permissible for material and weight reduction, but Grech also says Trueform’s build-on-demand approach keeps waste to a minimum. “Only the amount of concrete required to create each piece is mixed and used for casting. The ratio of raw material to product output approaches 1:1.”
The Wabele Collection made a statement at The Art of the Home and is now available for purchase, giving everyone the chance to bring the sculptural magic into their homes. Currently, Trueform offers three versions of Lewis’s vision: Outward and Inward are symmetrical surrounds that gently curve outward and inward, respectively. Meanwhile, the (Un)Balanced version’s undulating profile finds the serenity of asymmetry. Each surround is fabricated to fit its intended space and is available in sixteen colors and three finishes. Custom colors and finishes are also possible upon consultation.
Regardless of its colorway or configuration, Grech says the Wabele Collection encourages onlookers to reconsider what’s possible with concrete. “I’m hoping [clients] experience Wabele the same way that I did,” he says. “With a sense of wonder and appreciation for Leyden’s originality and creativity—and with an emotional connection to these sculptures. If they could intuit the seamless marriage between form and the material that enables it, I’ll know we’ve done our job.”
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