I live in an area where there are a lot of multifamily apartments under construction. In the early stage of construction, the entire construction site seems to be made of reinforced concrete, except the elevator which is made of cinder blocks. Why isn’t that made of poured concrete too, and why do they seem to build the elevator shafts before everything else?
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Both CMUs (concrete masonry units, aka cement block) and poured concrete are commonly used for elevator shafts. But blocks are more versatile and “trendy” for interior walls (like elevator shafts) and poured walls are a little hardier for exterior walls.
CMUs are really popular, especially right now, because they’re very versatile and are considered visually appealing. Especially in modern multi-family apartments, the elevator shaft is often a visible part of the structure — people like the look of cement block. It’s an aesthetic 🙂
Poured walls are stronger laterally and easier to waterproof, so they’re preferable in spots that might be exposed to water and soil.
So basically — my guess is that your sample is skewed by the fact that it’s mostly modern, multi family apartment buildings. There’s probably a building company around you that likes to utilize exposed block from the elevator shafts in the overall building aesthetic design.
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