In short
Corten steel is steel that rusts in an even layer and takes on a deep brown tone. We give pieces the Corten and rust look in our production facility, on real steel, as a liquid metal coating or by arc wire spraying, and the rust is stopped and sealed so it doesn't rub off.
What is Corten steel?
Corten steel is a steel alloy made to rust in an even layer on its surface. Outside, in sun and rain, that layer slowly darkens from orange to a deep brown. That tone is why you see Corten on facades, in sculptures and gardens, and indoors too, in lobbies, restaurants and homes.
Indoors it gets trickier. Bare rust can rub off on hands, clothes and the floor, and solid steel is heavy and expensive. That's why our Corten Steel finish gives you the same look, with rust that is stopped and sealed and stays on the piece.
How is Corten different from rust?
In tone. Corten is darker and quieter, a deep brown with the rust muted inside it. Rust is warmer and more orange, with dark marks and an earthy movement. Choose Corten when you want weight and calm, and Rust when you want lively industrial character.
And no two panels match, in steel or in our finish. The tones are made by hand, so every panel carries its own marks. You approve a sample first, and then we make your pieces to its depth and tone.
Real steel, a coating or rust paint?
There are three ways to get metal with the Corten or rust look, and we do all of them in our production facility. The first is real steel. On pieces of Corten steel, or of steel and iron that we rust on purpose, we stop and seal the rust through Metal Finishes on Solid Metals.
The second is liquid metal coating, real metal powder in a binder. It puts a Corten or rust coating on MDF, wood, aluminum and stainless steel, in pieces lighter than solid steel. The third is arc wire spraying, where we spray a layer of metal onto steel and aluminum.
Rust-colored or Corten-colored paint gives you a rust effect in color only, without the metal. If that is what the design needs, we do that too, in architectural painting. And that isn't the full range. We make many more finishes to order, as a liquid metal coating and by spraying.
How does the rust stay on the panel and off your hands?
We stop the rust and seal it under a clear coat. So it doesn't rub off on hands, clothes or the floor, and it doesn't keep rusting, inside or outside. That goes for Corten and for Rust alike.
We choose the clear coat for the place and for how much people touch the piece. We wrote a separate article about the ceramic clear coat, which can go over any of our finishes.
Where can you use Corten and rust?
In lobbies, offices and restaurants, and at home too. Reception desks, bar fronts, Corten wall cladding, bookcases and shelving, doors and Belgian window profiles. At home, a Corten TV wall gives the living room warmth and weight.
In the ONE Towers lobby in Ramat Gan, the Corten reception desk is the first thing a guest sees, and it came out of our production facility as a liquid metal coating. At the NSO headquarters, the arched Corten bookcases designed by Gindi Studio got their tone the same way. For more ideas, see metal finishes for bookcases and shelving.
Corten Reception Desk, ONE Towers
- Technology:
- Liquid Metal Coating – MetaliQ
Design: Baranowitz Goldberg
How do you choose between Corten and rust?
It's best to see them together. Put a Corten sample and a Rust sample side by side, in the light of your space, next to the floor and stone you chose. The difference between a quiet brown and a lively orange shows right away.
Pick samples from our sample set, or ask for a sample made for your project. From sample approval to finished pieces usually takes 2 to 4 weeks. Since 2017, more than 1,000 projects in Israel and around the world, all made in our own production facility.
And if you want to see the whole family, all our finishes are in our finish collection, and we wrote a guide to architectural metal finishes about how they differ. We also wrote about other warm metal colors, copper, bronze and brass.
