Products > Brick

RIBA Core Curriculum
- Design, construction and technology

Knowledge level
- General Awareness

Almost everyone knows that brick is one of mankind’s oldest and most durable building materials. Maybe that is the reason why it is sometimes overlooked in ‘modern’ architecture, despite its countless creative design possibilities.

In this section
- Brick through the ages
- Why choose brick?
- Types of brick and their characteristics

            
                    
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Learning Aims
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Learning Aims

  • A brief history of brick through the ages.
  • To provide an understanding of modern brick manufacturing processes and the characteristics of different products.
  • How different colours and textures are created and can influence aesthetics.

Learning Aims

  • An overview of the different size formats available.
  • Decorative brickwork and bond patterns.
  • Guidance on mortar colour and joint profiles and how they can affect the appearance of brickwork.
  • Aesthetic options and case studies – Imaginative and innovative use of brick.
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For thousands of years, the elements of fire, water, air, and earth have been used to produce a building material of incomparable usefulness and attractiveness.
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The Great Ziggurat of Al-Untesh-Naprisha ‘Choga Zanbil’, Iran
1260-1235BC

Ziggurats are huge multi-storied temple towers constructed with mud bricks baked in the sun.
 
Ziggurats were huge stepped structures, similar to pyramids. They featured a temple at the very top of the building to be close to the “heavens”.
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The Colosseum, Rome
70-80AD
Brickwork - Opus Latericium

The Romans perfected the manufacture of fired clay bricks.
 
Construction of the Colosseum began under Emperor Vespasian and completed under his son Titus.
 
The exterior of the Colosseum was Travertine but the internal construction was brick and marble.

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Trajan’s Market, Rome,
100 - 110 AD

Rome’s ancient “Shopping Centre” - A multi-level structure built in brick to house shops and apartments.
 
The Arcades are now believed to be administrative offices for Emperor Trajan.

The Romans spread the use of clay bricks across the empire with the use of mobile brick kilns.
 
Roman brickmakers had to stamp their product so that they could be held liable for the quality.

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The Hagia Sophia (Holy Wisdom), Istanbul, 537 AD

The current structure was constructed by Isidoros (Milet) and Anthemios (Tralles), who were renowned architects of their time, by Emperor Justinian’s orders.
 
Construction was completed in five years!
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The Temples of Bagan, Burma, 1044 – 1077 AD
 
Formerly Pagan, an ancient city in the Mandalay division of Burma.

Over 2000 stupas (pagodas) and temples built in brick.
 
The religious buildings of Bagan were reminiscent of popular architectural styles of that era – Stupas with ‘Relic’ and ‘Tomb’ shaped domes.
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The Great Wall of China, 1368 – 1644 AD

Before the use of bricks, the ‘Great Wall’ was mainly built from rammed-earth and stone. Brick walls became popular during the Tang Dynasty (618 - 907) when the technique of brick production was fully developed. However, bricks were expensive at that time which limited its use in the construction of city gates and nearby walls. The outsides of walls were built by laying pieces of bricks while the inner walls were filled with yellow earth. Due to the increase of production levels of bricks in the Ming Dynasty (1368 - 1644), cheap but high quality bricks were largely used. The wall was made strong enough to not only stop the intruders' steps, but also was able to resist attack from newly-invented firearms of the period.
 
Workers used lime mortar mixed with sticky rice juice as cementation materials which proved to be a very effective method.
 
The size and weight of the bricks made them easier and faster to use than the previously used earth and stone. Bricks could bear more weight and were more durable.
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Arg é Karim Khān, Shiraz, Iran, 1767

An example of Hazarbaf brickwork, meaning 'thousand weavings' in Persian, a surface decoration where the wall is patterned in relief with bricks that create a play of light and shadow.
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Bedford Square, London, 1775 – 1780 AD
 
One of the best preserved set pieces of Georgian architecture in London.

The Majority of the houses have now been converted into offices.
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St Pancras, London, England, 1867 – 1876 AD

A renowned example of Victorian brick architecture.
 
The initial plan was laid out by William Henry Barlow, Midlands Railway Consulting Engineer.
 
In 1886 the ‘Brick Gothic’ style of George Gilbert Scott was chosen out of 11 proposed designs. It can be described as a ‘Polychromatic Italian Gothic style’ structure.
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Monadnock Building, Chicago 1889 – 1891 AD
 
The tallest iron frame commercial building with a load bearing masonry external wall ever constructed.
 
It employed the first portal system of wind bracing in America.
 
16 storeys high with walls 1.8m thick at the bottom and 46cm thick at the top.
 
A purple/brown brick was used and when completed was the largest office building in the world.
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Grundtvig's Church, Bispebjerg district of Copenhagen, Denmark, 1921 - 1926

Master builder and architect Peder Vilhelm Jensen Klint (1853 - 1930) died before the church was finished. The task was entrusted to his son architect and designer Kaare Klint (1888-1954), who completed the building of the church in 1940.

Built in the brick expressionist style that developed in Europe during the first decades of the 20th century.

Six million yellow bricks were used and are the sole decoration of the church.

Gothic proportions but with a minimalist modern aesthetic.

76 m (259 ft) long in total and 35 m (115 ft) wide; the nave has a height of 22 m (72 ft). 49 m (160 ft) tall bell tower.
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Battersea Power Station, London, 1929 - 1953

The London Power Company commissioned architect and industrial designer Sir Giles Gilbert Scott to design Battersea Power Station in the late 1920s.

Largest brick building in Europe - Its dimensions are 160 x 170 metres.
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British Library, London, Completed in 1997

The largest public building constructed in the UK in the 20th century.

10 million bricks were needed to complete the building!

Charnwood Forest Dark Victorian Red Mixture clay bricks.

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001 RØGE, Hamburg
LA´KET Architekten GmbH

By specifying brick, your designs will ‘stand the test of time’ much like the projects we have just looked at, dating back thousands of years.
 
The BDA (Brick Development Association) state that bricks have a durability of 500 years. Consider this when thinking about the building you will design……brick leaves a long lasting legacy that will be a testament to your vision for many hundreds of years.

Architects are re-engaging with brick in new and innovative ways.

“When we talk about bricks, people think that we talk about tradition. But you can find many brick buildings with a new, modern approach, and they give brick a new meaning and a new appearance. It all depends on how innovatively you use brick.”

Wang Shu
Architect and Pritzker Prize Winner
Jury member of the 2014 Wienerberger Brick Award

Why Brick?

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Why Brick?

Brick is still an excellent choice for construction.

  • A wide product range allows unlimited design possibilities
  • Suitable for any project type from traditional to ultra-modern
  • A natural and sustainable building material
  • Highly economical
  • No expenses for maintenance and repairs
  • Durable and stable in value over many generations
  • Maximum energy efficiency of the building envelope
  • Healthy indoor climate conducive to well-being

Versatility

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Here we have the same product (Smeed Dean London Stock) used in two contrasting styles.
 
Brick is often chosen as a building material in order to complement and integrate with the surrounding environment, especially in areas with listed buildings.

Brick Types

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There are several types of clay bricks made in different ways, each with differing characteristics.

Production Methods

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Modern clay bricks are formed in one of these four processes….
 
With information from the BDA we see how the divisions for different brick types are in the UK.

Common Brick Terminology

  • Stretcher – The longer face of brick showing in the surface of a wall
  • Header – The end face of a standard brick
  • Bed Face – The face of a brick usually laid in contact with the mortar
  • Arris – Any straight edge of a brick formed by the junction of its faces
  • Frog – An indentation in one or both bed faces of moulded or pressed bricks
  • Perforation – Holes through extruded bricks from bed face to bed face

Handmaking

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The moulding process has been used for centuries, using a ‘stock’. The bottom section illustrated would be fixed to a bench – the raised profile in the middle helping to spread the clay to the four corners to achieve a reasonable brick shape.
 
When the brick is inverted, the resultant cavity (commonly called a ‘frog’) can be seen.

Handmaking

The moulding process has been used for centuries using a ‘stock’.

Step 1 – Handmaker forms roughly shaped clot of soft clay

Step 2 – Clot is coated with sand and thrown into pre-sanded mould box

Step 3 – Kicker placed on mould bottom to form frog – Frogs help spread clay to corners of mould

  • Typical handmaker produces around 100 bricks per hour

Now a niche method of traditional production – Lower volume, prestigious market

Handmaking

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Hand making involves the forming of the clay by hand, coating in sand and throwing into a mould, machine making, as you will see, follows similar processes.

Modern Machine Manufacturing

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Machine manufacturing of soft mud bricks follows the processes of hand making, just automated and it varies in that stocks have the clay pressed into the mould rather than being thrown or dropped into the mould.
 
‘Handformatic’ brick ranges recreate the hand thrown technique by throwing the clay into sanded moulds using belts, creating the signature smile

Modern Machine Manufacturing

  • Soft mud clay is pressed into the sand lined moulds and as they rotate bricks are turned out onto drying trays
  • The close simulation of hand throwing creates crease patterns on brick faces
  • Outputs can be as high as 22,000 bricks per hour

Brick Types

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Soft Mud Moulded Stock

These are traditional brick types but as we saw earlier with the use of the Smeed Dean London stock in both contemporary and traditional design, they don’t have to be restrained by ‘tradition’. Using traditional brick types in a contemporary building links the historic surroundings to the designs of our time.

Soft Mud Moulded Stock

Characteristics

  • Traditional appearance
  • Sanded face
  • Frogged
  • Multi-effect colourings
  • Softer and warmer brick aesthetic

Waterstruck/Slop Moulded

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Soft Mud Moulding actually covers a number of manufacturing processes where bricks are formed using mould boxes. One of these is the Waterstruck process.
 
Clay preparation is critical in order to get the correct consistency/plasticity.
 
In this instance water is used as a releasing agent to prevent the clay sticking to the box (instead of sand).
 
The excess clay is struck off from the top of the mould as the bricks are turned out - This is where the term Waterstruck originates.
 
As with all other manufacturing processes the wet bricks are then dried and fired.

Waterstruck/Slop Moulded

Characteristics

  • Niche method of traditional production
  • Soft mud clay forced through dies into moulds
  • Release from moulds facilitated by water instead of sand
  • Use of water creates distinctive texture – brick looks old and handmade even when new
  • Bricks generally manufactured as solid

Waterstruck/Slop Moulded

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This process forms a relatively smooth, sand free texture.
 
Use of water creates distinctive texture – brick looks old and handmade even when new.

Waterstruck/Slop Moulded

Characteristics

  • Relatively smooth
  • Unsanded face
  • Irregular texture
  • Multi-effect colourings
  • Reclaimed appearance

Extruded / Wirecut

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For Extruded bricks clay is forced through a die to create a long column of material of the desired width and depth.
 
The column is then cut into smaller, more manageable pieces approx 1.5m in length known as ‘slugs’. This is then cut into bricks of the desired length by row wires.
 
The introduction of perforations reduces the volume of clay needed, and hence the cost. Perforated bricks require less energy for drying and firing and are also lighter and easier to handle.

Extruded / Wirecut

Characteristics

  • Most popular method of production
  • High volumes – Circa 20,000 bricks per hour
  • Plastic clay mix driven through extrusion head to form continuous column
  • Column cut into slugs and subsequently bricks (nominally 215 x 102.5 x 65mm)
  • Perforations formed by extrusion core bars,generally ≤30% volume
  • Perforations save clay, reduce drying and firing cycles and save weight = more efficient transport

Extruded / Wirecut

Extruded / Wirecut

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This process produces hard, dense bricks with a more regular size and shape, sharper arises and a more contemporary appearance.

Extruded / Wirecut

Characteristics

  • Very consistent size/shape
  • Sharp arrises
  • Contemporary appearance
  • Vertically perforated
  • Grooved rear face

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