BRICKS, BLOCKS & STONE
GETTING CREATIVE WITH BRICK DESIGN Bricks are one of the world’s oldest building materials and have been used in the construction of many iconic structures, including New York’s Empire State Building. Scott Denham, Sales Director from IG Masonry Support, gives insight into the limitless design opportunities bricks enable across commercial and residential applications. IG MASONRY SUPPORT
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rick has been around for centuries and has been used and specified by architects across many generations, mainly because of its consistent shape, compressive strength and ability to absorb water. Whilst trends towards other materials come and go, architects’ love affair with it continues. Over the past decade, however, brick has been competing with other solutions, including the likes of cladding.
FC&A – APRIL – 2021
Now, brick is seeing something of a resurgence, and with this has come a wave of clients wanting to emulate modern interpretations of classic architecture. Architecturally, the intricate detailing that brickwork enables is like no other. Brick detail in the form of brick soffits, deep reveals and flying beams continually make for stunning exteriors, enabling architects to create truly unique facades.
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Brick has long been the go-to material in the UK and Ireland, but the likes of the modern cladding system have become quick and cost-effective ways to create bright and modern looking buildings. However, it comes at a cost and this is partly due to the longterm aesthetics, as modern cladding systems can look tired and dated over time. There can be no denying that many brick facades look as impressive today as they did when they were created decades ago.
Create beautiful brickwork As a result of brick’s popularity and limitless design potential, there has been a need for a market solution that enables intricate brickwork patterning to be achieved in many iterations. IG Masonry Support designed and manufactured five soaring corbelled brick slip feature arches with bond patterns that span the entrance facade of the Hendrick’s Gin Palace foyer in Scotland, a project designed by Michael Laird Architects and built by main contractor McLaughlin & Harvey. In total, 10 arches featuring on the front elevation were successfully manufactured to the same quality finish in factorycontrolled conditions and fitted seamlessly with the brickwork on site. Internally, three deep soffit arches were manufactured off site and then supplied to site. The same levels of consistency and quality were essential on the Defence and National Rehabilitation Centre (DNRC) project designed by Purcell, Steffian Bradley Architects and John Simpson Architects, built by main contractor Interserve and brickwork contractor Lee Marley, and featuring builders’ merchants, EH Smith. Over 1000 brick slip feature arches and just under 3km of offsite cornice were manufactured and designed. It would have been a time-consuming, highly-skilled task to create arches and cornice using traditional methods on site, but offsite solutions enabled the creation of identical arches of various designs and cornice detail that would achieve the architect’s desired aesthetic.
