BRICK

Bulletin SPRING 2006

CREAM
CRACKER
Russell Jones’ dramatic intervention
in a Victorian terrace in Bayswater

Heritage lobby
The National Trust’s brick-clad
HQ by Feilden Clegg Bradley

Critical mass
Masonry’s role in the zero fossil
energy BowZed project

Inside job
How to specify interior brickwork
that stays looking good

Published for the Brick Development Association

Hero
Sigurd Lewerentz stands out among his
modernist contemporaries in his preference
for masonry over steel and glass. James
Campbell, author of Brick, A World History,
says: ‘What Lewerentz saw in the brick that no
one else had seen fit to express before was the
primacy of the module.’
For Lewerentz (1885-1975), cutting bricks
was anathema. At the Church of St Peter at
Klippan, Sweden (1963-66), there is not a
single cut brick in the entire building,
completed when the architect was 81. And
because he wanted each brick to read as a
single entity, they were laid in stretcher bond.
‘To make such a system work,’ says Campbell,
‘he had to set the bricks in thick joints which
could vary in size. The (lime) mortar was
spread roughly and loosely over the bricks
and scraped off, giving a flush joint.’
Walls, floor and vaulted ceiling are in the
same uniform standard brick. Even the altar
and clergy seating are in brick, resulting in
what Campbell calls a ‘bunker-like’ intensity.

Brick: A World History, by James W P

Campbell and Will Pryce, is published
by Thames & Hudson, £39.95

WILL PRYCE
 Leader

Party wall breakthrough

New construction method meets The brick effect
acoustic regs without plastering
A new party wall construction makes it possible to I hope you like the
satisfy the acoustic requirements of Part E of the new Brick Bulletin. It
Building Regulations without sacrificing the
aesthetic benefits of a fair-faced brickwork finish. has been redesigned
The regulations stipulate that brick party walls to appeal to an even wider audience and will,
must be plastered on either side to ensure adequate
as ever, strive to highlight the very best in
acoustic separation. However, this breakthrough
obviates the need for plastering. contemporary brickwork as well as identifying
Stoke-based CERAM Building Technology has the latest trends. One of these is the new
conducted exhaustive tests on the method on
behalf of the BDA. The system consists of two intellectual rigour that is being applied to
parallel leaves of brickwork separated by a brickwork, particularly from the cutting edge
50mm cavity that is filled with masonry
mortar as work proceeds. The mortar
practices we feature in this issue. Feilden
binds the leaves together without Clegg Bradley, Russell Jones and Sergison
the need for wall ties. CERAM’s
Bates are developing their own rational
Geoff Edgell, who is overseeing the
tests, said: ‘The result has exceeded all approaches that are both satisfying and
expectations. The construction shows a sound thought-provoking. An integral part of this
reduction of 51dB compared with the regulation
requirement of 45dB.’ BDA director Michael Driver ‘new wave’ is the renaissance of interest in
added: ’This shows it is possible to meet Part E brick as an internal finish.
without foregoing the aesthetic, maintenance-free
In parallel to these developments is the
and robust nature of fair-faced brickwork. The wall is
easy to erect and will give consistent performance growing realisation that thermal mass can
because it does not rely on a sandwich of different better equip buildings to cope with global
materials to meet the regulations.’
The next step is to attain Robust Standard Detail warming, as BDA-ZEDfactory’s BowZed shows
status for the construction. This entails being (see page 12). We should not forget that brick,
successfully tested at 30 locations.
with its centuries-long lifespan, very low
maintenance and potential for reuse, is one of
Standards update the most sustainable materials we have and
BSI has published two amended standards that will
affect the specification of brick. has been tried and tested over a very long
BS EN 771-1 (Specification for masonry units.
Clay masonry units) with 2005 amendments is a
time. No wonder young architects are starting
further step in the establishment of harmonised to discover it. To them – and to all those who
Euro standards. Published in November, the
long-awaited document has now completely have rediscovered brick – we say welcome
replaced BS 3921:1985 (Specification for clay aboard. It is going to be a stimulating ride.
bricks) which was withdrawn on 1 April 2006.
In a parallel development last December,
Michael Driver, director
BSI published the three latest amended sections
of BS 5628: 2005 (Code of practice for the use Brick Development Association
of masonry). For further information, go to
www.bsi-global.com

Editor George Demetri Co-ordinating editor Eleanor Young Production editor Gail Novelle Design Cook Design ISSN 0307-9325

03
 News

Herts is trumps
This striking, low energy house in south

Hertfordshire attempts to create a 21st century
vernacular by combining cutting edge
technologies with local crafts and skills. Architect
David Kirkland + Associates’ sustainable design
was inspired by natural forms.
Red clay brick and roof tiles clad a super-
insulated ‘hybrid’ timber structure of both green
and dry English oak and larch. Low energy
solutions include passive solar design and a
ground source heat exchange system for
heating, as well as wood burning fires and back-
up underfloor heating.
With walls achieving 0.15W/m2K and the roof
achieving 0.1W/m2K, it is calculated the
building’s CO2 heating emissions will be much
less than 9.9kg/m2 a year. A green roof and grey
water recycling system complete its ecological
credentials. David Dexter and Associates was the
structural engineer and Ove Arup & Partners the
environmental engineer.
BRICKWORK GUIDE NOW OUT IN
NEW EDITION
The third edition of the BDA’s Guide to
Successful Brickwork is now out.
Although aimed at construction
students, the 242-page book is equally
suited to professionals who want an
authoritative reference for designing,
detailing and specifying brickwork.
Dependable and accurate, this latest
edition is in line with most British and
European standards, including BS EN
771-1 – the European Standard for clay
brick. It has sections on preparation
and protection, bricklaying techniques,
EDMUND SUMNER
good practice and accessories. A new
chapter on innovation details the
products and processes the UK brick
industry has developed to suit modern
construction methods, such as
prefabrication and thin-joint techniques
for both brickwork and blockwork.
Based on teaching experience, the
guide is packed with photographs and
clear isometric diagrams to provide an
easily digestible representation of
assembly methods.
The guide is available from the BDA
for £20.49 incl p+p. For more details,
call 01344 885651.

Sergison Bates shows (and tells) how it’s done

‘Brick-work: thinking and making’ is the title of both a book and an exhibition
documenting recent building projects by London-based Sergison Bates Architects
(www.sergisonbates.co.uk). Both projects are sponsored by the BDA. The slick, black
hardback (gta Zurich, November 2005, £25) highlights the practice’s concepts and work
on the use and effects of brick construction. The accompanying exhibition features
case studies of realised projects and competition entries from 1996 to 2005.
Construction drawings and concept models are used to explore the spatial potential of
brick construction and its influence on how the building is perceived. The exhibition
runs from 5 May to 8 June at the RIBA, 66 Portland Place, London W1. For further
details call 020 7580 5533. The book is available from the RIBA Bookshop (020 7251
0791) and the AA’s Triangle Bookshop (020 7631 1381).

04

It all stacks up
Ancient brick structures in Thailand inspired unashamed
modernist Ken Shuttleworth of make to take another look
at the material he’d only ever specified once before.
As a child I was always building
things not only with toy bricks,
but with real ones I found in the
garden. Maybe it helped inspire
me to be an architect. Bricks seem
to be the most fundamental
child’s toy, as everybody ‘gets it’,
even at a very young age.
Thirty-five years later I
enjoyed many hours playing with
bricks with my own children.
Bricks still have the ability to
capture a child’s imagination and
create far-off worlds, even in the
age of Play-Station.
Being asked to write a piece for
the brick industry was quite a
surprise. I have been an architect
for 30 years but I am not known
for my extensive use of bricks. As
far as I can remember, though I
learnt extensively of their
detailing in my formative years at
a small practice in Birmingham, I
have so far only used them once,
on a building in Southampton.
Here we explored the fact that
brick was being used as a non-
structural facing material and we
expressed this by stack bonding
the courses. We supported the
bricks in panels with visible
stainless steel frames to further
display that they were only a
facing material.
I must confess this was only
moderately successful, as we had
problems trying to force the
product in a direction it was not
really designed for. We spent
many an hour resolving problems
that wouldn’t have existed if we
had gone back to the textbook.
After that experience I
reverted to my ‘comfort zone’ of
curtain walling – until recently,
that is. For most of my career I
have been a participant in
continuing the modern
movement. This tried to suppress
brickwork, regarding it as an ‘arts
& crafts material’ and therefore
irrelevant to the modern machine
age. When brick was used, it had
Viewpoint
to be perfectly laid, almost as if by machine, to
give the appearance of a ‘modular and
stackable system’, and a ‘machine aesthetic’.
Brick is not part of the fully automated,
robotic world we all live in; it belongs to the
more human side of construction – designed
to fit in the hand, to be easily lifted and when
in place to give a feel of permanence through
the sheer mass of material. In contrast to the
relatively flimsy walls of modernism, brick
gives substance to a building.
It is the most honest of materials and is
construction at its simplest and purist form.
It gives human scale, everyone recognises it
and it is still the material of choice for homes,
despite the ‘white stuff’ proposed by
modernism.
Building with brick is building in the most
direct sense and is in harmony with the
environment. Brick reflects the local geology,
so it is so satisfying to tour an area and see the
colour of the soil reflected in people’s homes;
it gives direct ties with a location.
On a visit to Thailand last summer, we went
to Ayutthaya, the former capital, which has
some amazing bell-shaped forms, perilously
slender towers, images of Buddha structures
and temples – all built in brick. I was
absolutely amazed that this very special place,
over two centuries old, was built entirely in
brick. It was a fantastic demonstration of the
material’s flexibility and longevity.
As a result of this experience and our more
exploratory approach, brick is enjoying
something of a comeback at make. At our
Baker Street project for London and Regional,
we are building a
modern terrace 140m
long. It is probably
‘Using brick means the only new mews to
be built on such a
our modernist mews scale in recent history
will sit comfortably and we are using
brick structurally
amid its historic four storeys high. To
me, it is a far more
surroundings’ suitable use of the
material than merely
as a facing panel. The
detailing is tried and
tested and it expresses brick’s potential. The
building is an unashamedly modern design
but the use of brick allows it to sit comfortably
in the historic fabric of Marylebone. It
continues the modern movement, but in a
more flexible way. More importantly, as it will
become people’s homes, everybody will ‘get
it’, even a child.
05
 MIES’ LEGACY
Architect Quick Bäckmann Quick and Partners
specified a high quality engineering brick for this
scheme of 26 detached and semi-detached homes
in Berlin’s Wannsee district. Based on Mies van
der Rohe’s brick houses, each house has its own
minimalist layout. Completed 2002.
VOLKER KREIDLER

HISAO SUZUKI

RED ALERT RECYCLING INITIATIVE

Projections and overhangs are important elements in the work of This parish hall in Hamburg, designed
Dutch practice Neutelings Riedijk Architecten. At this red brick fire by Wacker Zeiger Architekten, is the
department headquarters in Breda, the Netherlands, bricks are laid result of a competition win and features
on their sides, creating an interesting pattern from the frog indents a distinctive glass centre framed by
that are normally hidden. Laid in alternating vertical and horizontal brickwork. The left-hand panel is all
pairs, the arrangement results in a basket-weave relief effect that new bricks while the one on the right is
helps articulate the large expanses of brickwork. Completed 1999. made of bricks recycled from the
building that formerly occupied the site.
Completed 2001.

Horses
for courses
Little and large, round or rectilinear,
domestic, commercial or civic – there’s no
size, shape or building use that cannot be
PETER LEMKE

enhanced by well detailed brickwork, as this

round-up of European projects demonstrates.

06
 NEVER A DULL MOMENT In pictures
Bricks in anthracite and aluminium grey
give this office building in Eindhoven, the
Netherlands, a shimmering exterior.
Architect Koen van Velsen asked the
manufacturer to create a special brick
with a metallic coating to lend lustre to
the facade, even on dull days. Completed
2002. ON THE WATERFRONT
Designed by Kees Christiaanse/ASTOC
Architects, this vast brick monolith of
an office building has four wings
connected by alternating ‘bridges’. This
creates an interesting arrangement of
interior and exterior courtyards and
forms an unmistakable landmark on
Hamburg’s burgeoning waterfront.
Completed 2003.
H G ESCH
DUCCIO MALAGAMBA

FRANCESCA GIOVANELLI

DRAMA IN THE ALPS

The stark formality of this six-
bedroom family home in Argau,
designed by Frei Architekten AG,
contrasts with its stunning
setting in the Swiss Alps. Its
stylish white-mortared, black
brickwork not only wraps around
the timber structure but also
supports the first-floor concrete
slab. Completed 2000.

07
DENNIS GILBERT/VIEW
National Trust
Swindon
Curtain brickwork helps the National Trust’s new HQ score
highly in the sustainability stakes. By George Demetri.
DENNIS GILBERT/VIEW
Feilden Clegg Bradley’s striking new £10m
central office for the National Trust in
Swindon was generated by three principles:
to be the most sustainable building possible
within the budget; to offer the best possible
work environment; and to provide the most
appropriate contextual response.
All three factors have been deftly
combined in the 7,300m2 brick-clad, steel-
framed building which, with its references
Case study to the Victorian railway sheds of Brunel’s
Great Western Railway next door (now
converted to other uses), has become a
landmark itself.
Unusually, the roof largely determines the
building’s form. Saw-tooth rooflights, used
both for north light and for accommodating
south-facing photovoltaic panels, are arranged
diagonally across the trapezoidal plan. This
creates three gabled elevations that are built in
Staffordshire blue brick.
08
In stark contrast, the colonnaded south
facade features extensive glazing with cast
aluminium grilles. This is the public side of
the building and gives access to the shop
and coffee bar.
The National Trust’s ethos required a wide
range of sustainability features including
extensive use of photovoltaics, enhanced
thermal insulation, automatic lighting control
systems, wintertime mechanical ventilation
and the use of lime mortar.
Exposed thermal mass in walls and
fairfaced concrete soffits help mitigate solar
heat gains, helped by natural ventilation
and night cooling in the summer. The
distinctive roof cowls promote both stack-
and wind-driven ventilation.
As an inextricably linked element to the
overall sustainability strategy, the 442mm
thick external wall construction achieves a
U-value of just 0.2. It is comprised of 140mm

thick internal concrete blockwork, rendered
‘The brickwork has been internally to capitalise on the thermal mass; a
conceived as a rippling 200 mm cavity containing 150mm high
performance insulation; and 102mm thick
curtain punctuated by external facing brickwork.
Feilden Clegg Bradley’s project director
openings, indents and Jo Wright explains: ‘Overall, the brickwork
has been conceived as a rippling curtain
projections.’ that is punctuated by openings, indents and
projections. It responds to the polychromatic
brickwork of the adjacent railway sheds not
by colour diversity but by manipulating
texture and module size.’
The base plinth is smooth Staffordshire
blue stretcher bond; the central zone is made
of reinforced, stack-bonded 215mm high clay
blocks; and the gables revert to stretcher bond.
To provide solar shading and glare reduction
for office areas, the architect devised precast
cantilevered brick fins that are expressed in
heather-coloured stack-bonded brickwork.
Client The National Trust
Architect Feilden Clegg Bradley
Project manager Buro Four Project Services
Structural engineer Adams Kara Taylor
M&E Max Fordham Partnership
QS Davis Langdon
Brickwork Glen Sims Contractors
Main contractor Moss Construction
For more details on this project, please ring
the BDA on 01344 885651.
Pigmented lime mortar was specified
because it drastically reduced the need for
movement joints, blends well with the
brickwork and, as far as Wright is concerned,
has a more interesting texture than cement
mortar. Equally importantly, its minimal
cement content will facilitate the future
recycling of the bricks.
Sustainability lies at the heart of the
National Trust’s philosophy, so it must be well
pleased with this building. According to
Wright, the project ‘demonstrates that
significant improvements can be achieved
over the performance of typical commercial
buildings built to similar budgets’.
This assessment is endorsed by its
‘excellent’ Breeam rating and the fact that it
is forecast to produce less than 20kg of carbon
dioxide per square metre each year. With
performance like that, surely even Brunel
himself would have been impressed.
09
Bayswater terrace
West London
The creamy brickwork of this slim terrace infill is a challenge to those
who think of it only as a ‘traditional’ material. By George Demetri.

Architect Russell Jones

Structural engineer Techniker
Contractor Task Specialist Contractors
QS Measur
HÉLÈNE BINET

For more details on this project, please ring

the BDA on 01344 885651.

10
 Case study
Bayswater’s rather grandiose listed terraces areas to satisfy structural requirements. enhanced by the extensive use of brick
have a striking new neighbour. Architect Insulation occurs at what the architect calls flooring, created simply by laying the bricks
Russell Jones has created an outstanding ‘strategic’ locations, while lintels hardly occur frog down.
building that, with few concessions to the at all. In their place, bed joint reinforcement is Getting planning permission for the
vocabulary of its Victorian surroundings, used above openings. project was not easy. But several years of
achieves a contrast that is all the more Internally, insitu floor slabs bear on meetings, committee presentations and
memorable because it is executed almost solid, fair-faced loadbearing brick walls – not, inevitably, some design compromises, have
entirely in delicious, creamy brickwork. as you might expect, built in Flemish or eventually produced a gem of a building.
On one of the last undeveloped bomb English bond, but as two parallel skins of Number 14a Garway Road may be modest in
sites in west London, Jones has shoehorned reinforced stretcher bond. This all-embracing its scope, but it should serve as a wake-up call
in a six-storey building that is no higher than effect, designed to extend the external to those who still think of brick only in
the four-storey terrace next door. It contains brickwork aesthetic into the interiors, is traditional terms.
three two-bedroom maisonettes and four
cleverly intertwined stairs, with the main
staircase establishing a processional route
through the building.
The narrow frontage features little
brickwork. Instead, a symmetrical
arrangement of unusually generous double-
glazed units alternates with light oak-faced
shutters. Profiled precast members tied back
to the slab express each floor level and
continue the street cornicing.
The uppermost maisonette is set back to
provide a generous roof terrace. This
apartment sports two enormous picture
windows, seemingly slapped on to the face of ‘I wanted to design a
the brickwork rather than positioned into
openings. Revealing no frame or other means building rich in
of support, the windows recall the simply
detailed brick churches of Danish architects material, simple in
Inger and Johannes Exner.
But the most dramatic element is the detail and direct in
almost cliff-like appearance of the garden
elevation. Stepped out to give each of the construction.’
lower maisonettes its own terrace, the effect is
of a brick fortress which is at once both
medieval and contemporary.
‘I wanted to design a building rich in
material, simple in detail and direct in
construction,’ Jones says. ‘The surrounding
buildings are predominantly cream-painted
stucco, Gault or London stock brick, so this
influenced my choice of an ivory brick with a
textured surface.’
Used both inside and out, the textured,
biscuit-coloured stock brick was laid with a
white, naturally hydraulic lime mortar and
white sand. The unusually bold, 20mm wide
joints are partly aesthetic and partly to obviate
the need for movement joints on flank walls
that in places are 29m long and 17m high.
Jones was influenced by early 19th century
warehouses in London’s East End. The
monolithic, appealing result allows the
expression of every brick.
External flanking walls are mostly cavity
brickwork but there are also solid brickwork

11
 BowZed
East London
Masonry’s thermal mass is a vital weapon in the battle for
energy efficiency, as this zero-carbon project shows.
STEVEN SPILLER/WWW.ZEDFACTORY.COM
The BowZed apartment block at Tomlins
Grove in east London exploits the benefits of
masonry’s thermal mass. Completed in 2004
by Bill Dunster Architects’ ZEDfactory, the
four-storey building can store solar heat gains
for up to five days in winter. In summer, this
time lag means internal temperatures can be
up to 10ºC cooler than outside.
Dunster has frequently warned that houses
with lightweight construction do not have suf-
Case study ficient thermal mass to cope with ever increas-
ing solar heat gain. By the middle
of this century, many will require air-condi-
tioning or could even face demolition.
The zero carbon project at Tomlins Grove,
Bow, shows a way forward. Project architect
Steve Harris says: ‘It has such high levels of
insulation and thermal mass that no central
heating is required. It generates as much ener-
gy from renewable sources as it consumes
over a year, half from photovoltaic cells and
12
the rest from the wind generator.’
The £500,000 building is orientated to
maximise its solar potential. Two flamboyant
roof-mounted ventilation cowls with integral
heat recovery track the wind, and the roof is
further animated by a wind generator.
‘The finish is to the high levels expected of
a modern urban private sales development,’
Harris says. ‘Windows are triple glazed, high
quality sustainable softwood and the building
is airtight to Scandinavian standards.’ Each of
the four apartments has a south-facing living
room, a terrace and a conservatory tucked
beneath the dramatic 30° PV slope.
Heating is derived from the occupants
themselves, solar gains on the south elevation
and from cooking and appliances. A 15kW
wood pellet boiler provides back-up for a sin-
gle radiator in each flat, which only comes on
when flats are unoccupied and the tempera-
ture drops below 18ºC.
 Client Yorklake Homes
Architect BDA/ZEDfactory
Structural engineer Ellis and Moore
Main contractor Toweregion

For more details on this project, please ring

the BDA on 01344 885651.
Clay blocks and bricks articulate the eleva-
tions. Yellow London stocks were sourced
from the brickworks that supplied the area in
the 19th century. Projecting by 120mm, the
clay blocks are supported on an exposed C-
channel at first-floor level, designed to allow a
future change of use on the ground floor.
Typical wall sections are 100mm clay block
or brick, 300mm rock fibre insulation and an
internal 140mm leaf of dense concrete block.
Finished with a dense wet gypsum plaster, the
wall construction is more than half a metre
thick and achieves an impressive U-value of
0.1. Thermal mass is enhanced by precast floor
slabs supported on the reclaimed steel frame.
Tomlins Grove makes fine use of masonry
in an integrated solution to environmental,
technical and architectural demands. Harris
adds: ‘It also shows how a zero fossil energy
scheme can be done on a tight site as part of a
conventional development opportunity.’

13
 Technical

Brick’s attractive appearance

enhances much of our external
environment. But it is also used
internally to great effect in
building types from houses to
Brickwork for
hotels, sports halls, supermarkets, Little details can have a
libraries or civic centres.
Bricks used internally do not dramatic effect on internal
have to be the same durability as brickwork. Brick Bulletin
those used outside. And while
great compressive strength may
advises designers how to
be necessary for some structural specify for a top quality result.
applications, this is rarely the case
for internal feature brickwork.
By Mike Hammett.
Designers have an extensive
choice of hues and textures at
their disposal. Colours range
from off-white through cream,
buffs, browns, reds and purples
to blues and blacks. Some
shades are relatively clear and
consistent, many are multi-
coloured. Textures may
be smooth, sand-faced, dimpled
or drag-faced, deeply scored or
rough. Glazed bricks are available
in virtually any colour.
All this variety is derived from
the behaviour of the raw materials
during manufacture. A certain
degree of distortion in the form of
each brick can give rise to
HÉLÈNE BINET

characteristic differences in the

brickwork, from a precise
regularity to a rugged rusticity.
With the exception of glazed
bricks, which are often supplied
individually wrapped for
protection, bricks are produced,
handled and transported in bulk,
generally by mechanical means.
Minor blemishes on the surface
and edges of individual bricks are
unavoidable and acceptable for
normal external brickwork. For
The surface texture of
internal work, higher standards of
internal brickwork at
Caruso St John’s Brick finish are required because it will
House in Notting Hill is be viewed from close quarters,
dramatically enhanced by often under unforgiving lighting.
natural top-lighting. For this reason the designer
should specify that the bricklayer
be more discriminating when
selecting bricks for laying. As is
usual practice, the bricklayer
should work from a minimum of
three packs of bricks to avoid
patchiness or bands of colour
variation. Another approach is
to ask the manufacturer to supply
packs of specially selected
pre-blended bricks.

14
Indoors with brick: in the
bath at Caruso St John’s
Brick House, and in
David Kirkland’s Headland
House, Hertfordshire (see
news, page 4).
interiors
Mortar joints also have
considerable influence on the
finished appearance. The colour
and texture of the mortar is
critical and the profile of the
joints is also important; these
should be specified with care.
Under strong directional lighting,
pronounced shadows in deeply
raked joints make the brickwork
appear much darker than it would
with flush joints.
Protection
Internal brickwork must be
protected not only during its
construction but subsequent
operations. Unless the roof is on,
it must be protected from the
weather. If severely wetted, it is at
great risk of efflorescence and
lime staining. Internal brickwork
is particularly vulnerable to lime
and cement staining resulting
from concrete being placed
overhead, as well as from
rainwater run-off from concrete
slabs and beams. Staining will be
difficult to remove without
leaving blemishes. External
brickwork might benefit from
weathering, but interior work
does not. Most external cleaning
methods are not practicable for
interiors because of the risk of
damage to adjacent finishes.
There are specialist methods, but
they are very expensive.
Attention to detail
Internal brickwork comes in for
more critical appraisal than
external work, so great care should
be applied to its detailed design
and assembly. Dimensions should
be based on the bonding pattern
so there will be no need for cut
bricks and unsightly ‘zipper’
irregularities in the pattern.
Bed joints must be spaced
consistently and kept level. Any
variation will be immediately
apparent, especially in corridors
where work is viewed at close
quarters along its length.
Corners, plinths, corbels, and
the jambs, heads and sills of
openings, may be articulated with
specially shaped units. Discuss
these with the brickmaker at an
early stage so specials will be
ready when needed.
Smooth, or slightly textured,
hard, dense bricks can be used to
build tough internal walls able to
take the wear and tear of public
HÉLÈNE BINET
WHAT TO WATCH
1 Quality of bricks. To minimise
blemishes and size variation,
consider specifying special
selection by manufacturer.
2 Colour consistency. Ensure
bricks are blended from a
minimum of three packs or specify
pre-blended packs from the
manufacturer.
3 Special shaped bricks. Assess
need for specials and confirm the
order with the manufacturer in
good time.
4 Choose mortar colour, texture
and mortar joint profile with care.
5 Dimensions should correspond
with brick coordinating sizes and
bond pattern.
6 Cutting of bricks must be
accurate and neat, preferably
using a bench saw.
7 Ensure neat and consistent bed
and cross joints.
8 Control vertical alignment of
cross joints (perpends).
9 Plan working to avoid scaffold
lifts occurring at eye level.
10 Ensure effective protection of
brickwork and flooring throughout
its construction and to completion
of all following work.
areas in shopping malls, sports
halls and similar buildings. A neat
bucket-handled profile joint in a
normal 1:1:6 cement/lime/sand
mortar is serviceable and resists
malicious damage. Softer, more
textured bricks are more
vulnerable to vandalism. Painted
EDMUND SUMNER/VIEW
graffiti can penetrate porous
bricks deeply and is almost
impossible to remove completely.
In supervised areas, highly
textured bricks and recessed
joints can be used but are best
sited where there is no direct
contact with furniture or people.
Occasional vacuum cleaning with
a soft brush attachment will
remove dust. Light washing using
a sponge, hot water and a mild
detergent will restore colour to
dulled surfaces. If bricks shed
sand or grit particles, the surface
may be bound with a transparent
water-thinned PVA surface seal.
Flooring
Hardwearing, attractive floors can
be laid with brick paving, set and
jointed in mortar on a concrete
slab. Hard, dense, non-absorbent
pavers resist dirt and stains and
need minimal maintenance. They
can be sealed and polished for a
more luxurious finish.
In areas subject to food and
drink spills, avoid the more
porous pavers as they can absorb
stains. Used elsewhere they may
be kept clean with brushing and
periodic mopping with water and
a mild detergent. Sealants can be
applied to this type of paver, but
they will need regular polishing
and buffing and this inevitably
changes a naturally matt finish.
In many modern buildings
brickwork provides continuity of
material from outside to inside.
Even where this is not the case,
brick offers many opportunities
for attractive, robust and practical
interior features.
15
 Detail

The Brick Development Association’s member companies

50 brick slip on mortar bedding
Baggeridge Brick Michelmersh Brick & Tile Co o Breather membrane
Tel: 01902 880555 Tel: 01794 368506 100 mineral wool insulation
Email: enquiries@baggeridge.co.uk Email: sales@michelmersh.co.uk
225 brick with keystone reinforcement
www.baggeridge.co.uk www.michelmersh.com
50x50 stainless steel retaining angle
Blockleys Brick Normanton Brick Co
Tel: 01952 251933 Tel: 01924 892142/01924 895863 Stainless steel gutter
Email: sales@blockleys.com Fax: 01924 223455 295x215 concrete ringbeam
www.michelmersh.com Northcot Brick
Bovingdon Brickworks Tel: 01386 700551
Tel: 01442 833176 Email: info@northcotbrick.co.uk
Email: info@bovingdonbricks.co.uk www.northcotbrick.co.uk
www.bovingdonbricks.co.uk Ormonde Brick 30 wide open vertical
Broadmoor Brickworks Tel: +353 (0)56 44 41323 perpends for air extract

Tel: 01594 822255 Email: ormondeb@iol.ie 50 mineral wool

www.ormondebrick.ie insulation
Fax: 01594 826782
Email: sales@broadmoor-brickworks.co.uk Phoenix Brick Company 100 brick inner leaf
Bulmer Brick & Tile Co Tel: 01246 233223
225 void with brick
Tel: 01787 269232 Email: enquries@bricksfromphoenix.co.uk diaphragm
Fax: 01787 269040 www.bricksfromphoenix.co.uk
Mortar slurry
Email: bbt@bulmerbrickandtile.co.uk Wm C Reade of Aldeburgh
Tel: 01728 452982 225 brick outer leaf
Carlton Brick in flemish bond
Tel: 01226 711521 Fax: 01728 454957
140x215 precast concrete
Direct sales line: 01226 715000 Email: reception@msoakesltd.co.uk lintel 140x215 precast
SW fillet concrete lintel
Email: sales@carltonbrick.co.uk Selborne Tile & Brick
Mastic pointing
www.carltonbrick.co.uk Tel: 01420 478752
195x65 oak window frame Pressed metal casing to
Charnwood Forest Brick Fax: 01420 474509 blind box
Email: selbornebricks@aol.com 150x65 oak window casement
Tel: 01509 503203
Email: sales@charnwoodforest.com Swarland Brick Co
Double glazed unit
www.michelmersh.com Tel: 01665 574229
Coleford Brick & Tile Fax: 01665 574400
Tel: 01594 822160 Email: chris@swarlandbrick.fsnet.co.uk
Email: sales@colefordbrick.co.uk Tyrone Brick
www.colefordbrick.co.uk Tel: 02887 723421
Dunton Brothers Fax: 02887 727193
Tel: 01494 772111 Email: sales@tyrone-brick.com
Email: sales@duntons.com www.tyrone-brick.com
www.michelmersh.com The York Handmade Brick Co
Tel: 01347 838881
Errol Brick
Tel: 01821 642653
Email: sales@yorkhandmade.co.uk Integrated thinking
www.yorkhandmade.co.uk
Email: info@errolbrick.co.uk Brick plays an important role in many of Sergison Bates’ buildings. This
www.errolbrick.co.uk W H Collier concept detail is part of a 2003 competition entry for a cultural history
Tel: 01206 210301 museum at Bornholm in Denmark. The detail is a development of the
Freshfield Lane Brickworks
Email: sales@whcollier.co.uk
Tel: 01825 790350 practice’s ideas of conglomerate structures that achieve a better
www.whcollier.co.uk
Email: sales@flb.uk.com integration of claddings and linings with structure and servicing.
www.flb.uk.com Wienerberger
Stephen Bates says: ‘The material of the new building is brick, overall
Tel: 0161 491 8200
Hammill Brick
Email: office@wienerberger.co.uk
and monolithic in its presence. Soft in texture, with joints which are
Tel: 01304 617613 blurred by the wash of slurry over the surface, the bricks become more
www.wienerberger.co.uk
Email: info@hammillbrick.co.uk like aggregate within a conglomerate structure [rather] than distinct,
www.hammillbrick.co.uk The Brick Development Association
Tel: 01344 885651 stacked masonry units. In parts, the brickwork is stretched to form an
Hanson Building Products open pattern, increasing ventilation into the cavity behind it. Structural
Email: brick@brick.org.uk
Tel: 0870 609 7092
www.brick.org.uk expression is suppressed to give the material an autonomy from
Email: info@hansonbp.com
www.hansonbrick.com
technique, which intensifies its expression as wrapping, heavyweight
enclosure or perforated screen.
Ibstock Brick
Tel: 01530 261999
‘A double brick skin is proposed with an outer skin of self-supporting
www.ibstock.co.uk brickwork on the walls and as ballast on the roofs, and an inner structure
of solid brickwork with keystone reinforcement in finely tuned
Kingscourt Brick
Tel: +353 (0)42 9667317
compression spanning between concrete ring beams. The roofs form a
Email: info@kingscourtbricks.ie series of interconnected vaults, running across the east-west axis,
www.laganbrick.com springing from double-skin walls. The spaces inside are encased by this
enveloping mass of brick which is ever present.’

16