Emmett Scanlon on O’Donnell & Tuomey’s brick works Masonry ... · promotes excellence in the architectural, structural and landscape applications of brick and pavers. The BDA

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MMaassoonnrryy mmaasstteerrppiieecceess:: 2013 Brick Awards2013 Brick Awards

First person: Alexis Harrison on architectural ceramicsFirst person: Alexis Harrison on architectural ceramics

Keeping the faith: new brick religious buildingsKeeping the faith: new brick religious buildings

Graux & Baeyens’ House K in BuggenhoutGraux & Baeyens’ House K in Buggenhout

Design advice for reclaimed clay bricksDesign advice for reclaimed clay bricksWINTER 2013

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PPllaaccee mmaakkiinnggContext is central to the brickarchitecture of O’Donnell &Toumey, profiled in this issue.But this is not just about ‘fittingin’ with the dominant brickcityscapes of London, Belfast orDublin. Instead, brick is usedto form powerful social andpsychological connections thatprovide a sense of belonging.Issues of place and identityalso inform brick projects byBarceló-Balanzó Arquitectes,and Duggan Morris (winnerof the 2013 Brick Awards).Elsewhere, Arup’s AlexisHarrison explores the worldof architectural ceramics.

Viviane Williams (MA) BDAdesign and marketing manager

To find out more about the bricks or paversin featured projects, or to submit work, [email protected] or phone 020 7323 7030.

BB WINTER 2013 • 3

ccoonntteennttss4 NEWS

Alex Chinneck’s brick artwork in Margate;Fraser Brown MacKenna in London;winners of the Think Brick Awards 2013;First Person – Alexis Harrison of Arup.

6 BRICK AWARDS 2013Showcase of all 16 category winners.

6 PROJECTSAllies & Morrison, Bovenbouw, JonathanHendry Architects, Graux & Baeyens,and Barceló-Balanzó Arquitectes.

14 PROFILEThree buildings in three cities:Emmett Scanlon explores the brickarchitecture of O’Donnell & Tuomey.

20 REPORTFaith in brick: new religious buildings ofall denominations are being built in brick.The BDA’s Viviane Williams reports.

22 TECHNICAL GUIDANCEThe latest guidance document from theBrick Development Association commentson the use of reclaimed clay bricks.

ccoonnttaaccttssExecutive editor: Viviane Williams (MA) t: 020 7323 7030 e: [email protected] Development Association, The Building Centre, 26 Store Street, London, WC1E 7BT

The BDA represents manufacturers of clay brick and pavers in the UK and Ireland andpromotes excellence in the architectural, structural and landscape applications of brickand pavers. The BDA provides practical, technical and aesthetic advice and informationthrough its website www.brick.org.uk, in its numerous publications and over the phone.

ISSN 0307-9325 Published by the BDA ©2013 Editorial/design: Architecture Today plcFFrroonnttiissppiieecceeHouse k in Buggenhout,Belgium, by Graux &Baeyens Architecten(ph: luc roymans).

ccoovveerrStudents’ centre atthe london Schoolof economics byO’Donnell &tuomey(ph: Paul Durcan).

BBDDAA mmeemmbbeerr ccoommppaanniieessAJ Mugridge t +44 (0)1952 586986 www.ajmugridge.co.uk

Bovingdon Brickworks t +44 (0)1442 833176 www.bovingdonbricks.co.uk

Bulmer Brick & Tile Co t +44 (0)1787 269232 [email protected]

Carlton Brick t +44 (0)1226 711521 www.carltonbrick.co.uk

Coleford Brick & Tile t +44 (0)1594 822160 www.colefordbrick.co.uk

Furness Brick & Tile Co t +44 (0)1229 462411 www.furnessbrick.com

Hanson Building Products t +44 (0)330 1231017 www.hanson.com/uk

HG Matthews t +44 (0)1494 758212 www.hgmatthews.com

Ibstock Brick t +44 (0)1530 261999 www.ibstock.co.uk

Ketley Brick Company t +44 (0)1384 78361 www.ketley-brick.co.uk

Michelmersh Brick Holdings t +44 (0)844 931 0022 www.michelmersh.co.uk

Northcot Brick t +44 (0)1386 700551 www.northcotbrick.co.uk

Matclad t +44 (0)1978 291133 www.matclad.co.uk

The York Handmade Brick Co t +44 (0)1347 838881 www.yorkhandmade.co.uk

WH Collier t +44 (0)1206 210301 www.whcollier.co.uk

Wienerberger t +44 (0)161 4918200 www.wienerberger.co.uk

BBrriicckk BBuulllleettiinn WWiinntteerr 22001133

ARCHITECTURETODAY

Brick slip: Alex Chinneck in Margate

From the Knees of my Nose to the Belly ofmy Toes is the title of a brick-based publicartwork in Margate, Kent, by Alex Chinneck(ph: Stephen O’Flaherty). The installation,which comprises a house facade that has ‘slid’into the front garden, is made from 25mm-thick brick slip panels backed with GRP.Measuring four bricks wide by eight courseshigh, the lightweight panels are fixed to 18mmOSB board. ‘Brick is a unit of stability and solid-ity’, explains Chinneck. ‘I wanted to challengethis perception by creating a structure withillusory fluidity. The flowing form defies thematerial nature of brick and plays with ourunderstanding of the physical world around us.’


Fraser Brown MacKenna in London

Due to complete later this year, SalcombeRoad in east London, by Fraser BrownMacKenna Architects replaces a 1980s hous-ing scheme with a mixture of 30 affordableand private residential units. On its decision touse masonry construction, the architect says,‘brick conveys a deep, London-rooted build-ing tradition, while remaining contemporaryin its expression. Properties including longlife, low maintenance and high thermal stor-age only reaffirmed it as the best material forthe scheme.’ Red brick was specified for thestreet facades, while a white brick was chosento accentuate the planting in a series oflandscaped communal courtyards to the rear.

2013 Think Brick Award winners

The Bellbowrie Swimming Pool in Brisbane,Queensland, by Bureau Proberts (right, ph:Christopher Frederick Jones) has won theHorbury Hunt commercial award at the 2013Think Brick Awards, organised by Think BrickAustralia. Developed in collaboration with artistAdrian Clifford, the entry pavilion features adistinctive brick motif designed to evoke theindigenous eucalyptus. A large free-form gumflower is rendered in Flemish-bonded whitebrick, while brown bricks create an expressedbackground flower pattern. The HorburyHunt residential award went to Owen & Vokes& Peters’ Four Room Cottage, also in Brisbane(below right, ph: Jon Linkins). This skillfullydesigned masonry extension includes a galleykitchen and fireside courtyard. ‘The use ofbrick marks new from old, physically ground-ing the house and celebrating the gardenspace’, said the jury. Other winners includedSt Mary of the Cross MacKillop Chapel inMelbourne, Victoria, by Woods Bagot(masonry award); and Garden House inBrisbane by Cox Rayner Architects and Two-fold Studio (recycle, reuse and restore award).

NNEEWWSS FFIIRRSSTT PPEERRSSOONN

Alexis Harrison of Arup reflectson recent developments in the fieldof architectural ceramics.

Clay materials are enjoying a revival.Brickwork has not been used so creativelyby architects since the 1930s, and a handfulof groundbreaking new projects isembracing the amazing potential thatarchitectural ceramics have to offer.

Advanced techniques for forming clayconstruction materials, with or withoutapplied glazes, have been used to createbeautiful facades for centuries. While thetechnology may have changed little, theconstruction techniques have alteredconsiderably, from fired clay as a structural(or at least self-supporting) material, to onewhich now provides a ceramic ‘armour’to slender structures deeply paddedwith insulation.

Architectural ceramics crudely fit intothree categories: brick, ceramic tiles andterracotta. The latter, which includes


movements in the structure to be taken up inthe cladding via open joints between the tiles.However, the intention was to point the jointswith lime mortar, depicting a heavy masonryfacade. Movement joints were deemed visual-ly unacceptable, so Arup devised a strategy tosupport each tile individually on vertical steelchannels. These span two stories and are sup-ported at the base, and restrained at thehead. In effect, this divorced the claddingfrom the primary frame both structurally andthermally, allowing it to move independentlyof any sway or deflection in the building,while reducing cold-bridging throughthe insulation.

Another challenge was the application ofDeacon’s elaborate polychromatic colours tothe white glazed faience cornice.The quantityand size of the units meant a traditionalhand-painted glaze would be too time con-suming and inconsistent in appearance.A decision was therefore made to employscreenprinted transfers, a technique that hasbeen reliably used in tableware for around250 years, but never in the UK at building

faience (glazed terracotta) became popular inthe mid-nineteenth-century as a means ofmass producing ornamented architecturalstone. Far from artificial, terracotta andfaience were soon expressed as materials intheir own right, as evidenced by the decorativefacades of Britain’s grand municipal buildings,such as London’s Natural History Museum.

Today, architectural ceramics tend to be setindividually on metal sub-frames to form thinrainscreen cladding. Extruded terracottaplanks pioneered in the 1990s by the likes ofRenzo Piano and Thomas Herzog are nowestablished and popular facade materials.Extruded terracotta tubes or ‘baguettes’followed, gaining popularity as shading devicesand cladding – nowhere more spectacularlythan Sauerbruch & Hutton’s BrandhorstGallery in Munich.

The finest contemporary architecturalceramics are born of a synergy of makers,artists, architects and engineers -– pushingthe material’s limits in sometimes complexthree-dimensional forms. Villa Nurbs, anexperimental house in Empuriabrava, Spain,

by Barcelona practice Cloud 9 is a good exam-ple. The design features warped ceramic tiles,formed by extruding ribbons of clay andslumping them around CNC-machined forms,before suspending them from a steel cable netin a composition of drooping black tongues.

One Eagle Place on London’s Piccadillygave Eric Parry Architects the opportunity topush the boundaries of traditional faience.The facade is classically ordered, restatingthe proportions of adjacent buildings andfeaturing oversized bullnose cills with deep,curvaceous window reveals – in what Parrydescribes as a rouge blush – all produced byLancashire-based Shaws of Darwen. Crowningthe design is an enormous angular cornicedepicting highly coloured artworks in multi-coloured glazes by artist Richard Deacon.

The main challenge for Arup, which wasappointed as a ceramics specialist and facadeengineer, was how to wrap a brittle three-dimensional surface around a highly insulated,slender primary structure that will experiencehigh degrees of movement under live loads.Ordinarily this is overcome by allowing

AAbboovvee ((cclloocckkwwiissee ffrroomm ttoopp lleefftt)) extruded terracottatube cladding on the Brandhorst Gallery in Munichby Sauerbruch & Hutton (ph: NBK Keramik);polychromatic colours were screen-printed ontowhite-glazed faience panels at Eric Parry Architects’One Eagle Place in London (ph: Dirk Lindner); VillaNurbs in Empuriabrava, Spain, by Cloud 9 employswarped ceramic tiles made from extruded ribbonsof clay slumped around CNC-machined forms(ph:Victor LLanos).LLeefftt AlfredWaterhouse’s Natural History Museum inLondon is one of the finest examples of nineteenth-century architectural terracotta and faience.

Alexis Harrison is a senior designer andmaterials specialist at Arup in London.

scale. Naturally the client was keen toensure the finish could withstand the pro-ject’s 100-year design life. Ceramic glazeshave the advantage of being entirely colour-fast, but there was no precedent for ceramictransfers, other than their ability to with-stand the rigours of dishwashers and ovens.Arup provided reassurance by specifying atest programme replicating UK facade con-ditions, and subjected samples to thermalshock baths and over 100 cycles of freeze/thaw. They passed without fault.


Ortus, a 1550-square-metre learning facilityat the Maudsley Hospital in south London,designed by Duggan Morris Architects (1)was named the supreme winner of the2013 Brick Awards, held at the MarriottGrosvenor Square Hotel in London on 14November. The building’s precast concreteframe is infilled with a graded blend ofbrickwork, which changes from dark to lightto express the transition from earth to sky.Brick is also used internally, where it formsthe inner face of the cavity walls. The jury,

Winners of the 2013 Brick Awardswere selected from over 350 entries.

which was chaired by Richard Lavington ofMaccreanor Lavington Architects, describedOrtus as an exceptional brick building thatis clever, unique, original and modern.The project also won the best educationbuilding award.

Best housing development (1-5 units) wasawarded to Long Farm, a family home inSuffolk by architect Lucy Marston (2).Inspired by traditional ‘long houses’, thetimber-framed dwelling is clad in a rusticbrick and features tiled window sills and con-cealed lintels. A super-sized whitewashedinglenook and cantilevered brick chimneyarticulate the ground-floor living spaces.Praised by the judges as a ‘a beautiful housewith gorgeous detailing throughout’, thedwelling skillfully combines modern and

traditional elements while complementingits rural context.Winner of the best housing development

(6-25 units) category was Hargood Close inColchester, Essex, by Proctor & MatthewsArchitects (3). Described by the jury as‘a clever piece of urban infill,’ the two-storeybuilding is planned around a pair of land-scaped courtyards. The imaginative use ofbrick combined with meticulous detailingresult in surfaces and elevations that arematerially and aesthetically rich. A mix ofred and special black bricks makes referenceto traditional Essex almshouses and nearbyterraced housing.Panter Hudspith won the best housing

development (26 units or more) for RoyalRoad in London (4). Chosen for reasons of

context, robustness and longevity, the brickenvelope is laid in a stretcher bond withbucket handle mortar joints. Sections ofsawtooth brickwork animate the facades withcorners and shadows. Header courses belowwindows support ceramic cills, whilesoldier courses at the top of parapets arecapped in aluminium. The jury applaudedthe quality and ambition of the project,describing it as ‘humane and approachable’.The award for volume house building

went to Barratt for the third consecutiveyear. The prize covered three developments:Waterside Park (blocks D, E and F) inLondon, designed by Allies & Morrison (5);East Wichel in Swindon, Wiltshire, by BarrattHomes; and Trinity Village, Bromley, Kent,by DHA Architecture. The jury felt all three

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11 Ortus; architect: Duggan Morris Architects; brickworkcontractor: Mara Build; brick: Freshfield Lane –First Quality Multi-Facings, Special Blend 90 per centSelected Dark Facings, and ten per cent SelectedLight Facings.22 Long Farm; architect: Lucy Marston; brickworkcontractor: Cottrell Brickwork; brick: Ibstock –Chailey Rustic Stock.33 Hargood Close; architect: Proctor & Matthews;brickwork contractor: ISG Jackson; brick: Ibstock –Parham Red Stock and Special Black RSS.44 Royal Road; architect: Panter Hudspith Architects;brickwork contractor: Dax Brickwork; brick: Ibstock –Ivanhoe Cream and Ivanhoe Athena Blend.55 Waterside Park (blocks D, E and F); architect:Allies & Morrison; brickwork contractor: RapidBrickwork; brick: Ibstock – Bradgate Harvest Antiqueand Bradgate Light Buff.66 Britten Pears Archive; architect: StantonWilliams;brickwork contractor: RG Carter; brick: MichelmershBrick Holdings – Dunton – Bespoke Mix MachineMade Light Red Multi.

projects provided secure, well organised andstimulating environments for their residents.It was also particularly impressed by thelandscaping on Waterside Park.Stanton Williams was the recipient of the

best public building award for the BrittenPears Archive in Aldeburgh, Suffolk (6).Conceived as an ‘egg in a box’, the designcomprises well-insulated walls of solid load-bearing facing brickwork (up to 440mmthick) enclosing a concrete block archive. Abuffer space between the brick and concretestructures moderates temperature and rela-tive humidity levels. A rich red brick laid inFlemish bond with hydraulic lime mortarensures the building complements theadjacent grade-two-listed former home ofBenjamin Britten. The judges applauded the

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project’s low-energy credentials.Designed by Munkenbeck & Partners,

Gee Street in east London won twocategories: best commercial building andinnovative use of brick and clay products(7). The office-led, mixed-use developmentuses perforated bricks to provide a meansfor controllingnatural ventilation. Theextruded bricks were chosen for their resem-blance to Mediterranean terracotta blocks,which in north Italy are used to make perfo-rated walls for feed-drying barns. The jurypraised the apparently effortless way inwhich the building fits into its office andresidential context’.

The architect’s choice award went toAustin-Smith:Lord’s Carmelite Monastery in

Allerton, Liverpool (8). Brick was specifiedas the principal building material to expressvalues of timelessness, tradition and practi-cality. Flemish bond serves as a background‘weave’ that is modified with projecting andrecessed headers to add texture and pattern.Recessed headers on the third-storey providea horizontal datum that ties together thedifferent elements of the composition.Inside the chapel, projecting headers breakup sound reflections.

‘An interesting take on a rear extension’,was how the jury described Alwyne Place inLondon, by Lipton Plant Architects, whichwon the refurbishment and renovationcategory (9). The new addition is construct-ed in a slate-blue brick, contrasting with the

weathered yellow stock of the existing build-ing. A deep soldier course band breaks theelevation into two distinct halves. The upper-floor office comprises a wrap of framelessglass to the wall and roof, flanked by twomonolithic brick walls, which align with aview to the landscaped garden beyond. Acontinuous soldier course above the doors isformed from brick slips. The brickwork issealed with linseed oil to provide protectionfrom the elements and to add lustre.

The standard of entries received in thebest craftsmanship category was so high thatthe judges decided to honour two projects:the Plantation in Stock, Essex, by PaulElwood (10), and a new house in Tadley,Hampshire, by Nigel Anderson (11).

Evoking on a Georgian country house, thePlantation combines gault and gauged brick-work with natural stone and slate. Yellowhandmade bricks are laid in Flemish bondusing a lime mortar. The jury admired theproject’s attention to detail, particularly theuse of tuck-pointing on the front elevation.Designed in the Anglo-Palladian tradition,Nigel Anderson’s two-storey house is builtpredominantly in bespoke handmade redbrick with simple detailing. The judgesapplauded the scheme as a beautiful buildwith excellent craftsmanship.

Reussir was named specialist brickworkcontractor of the year for three projects insouth wales: New Bettws High School byHLM Cardiff, Archbishop McGrath School,

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also by HLM Cardiff (12), and Port TalbotOffices, by Rio Architects. The judges choseReussir for the consistency of its high-qualitybricklaying across a range of substantialbuilding contracts.

A new category, the BDA chairman’saward, was won by Mae Architects forHammond Court in east London (13).BDA chairman Alan Baxter selected thehousing project as an outstanding exampleof humane urban infill. Warm-colouredbricks are used in combination with a court-yard plan and refined detailing to giveresidents an attractive outlook.

Best international project went to MoloneyO’Beirne Architects for the Phoenix CareCentre in Dublin, Ireland (14). Intended tocreate a warm and non-intimidating environ-ment, the three-storey mental health facilityis wrapped in an earth-coloured brick skin.Crisp, contemporary detailing is employedthroughout, including the use of bricksoffits. ‘Well planned and well designed’, washow the judges described the project.

Last but not least, the New Rijksmuseumin Amsterdam by Cruz & Ortiz Arquitectoswon the worldwide brick award (15).Housing one of the world’s largest collec-tions of paintings by Dutch masters,this prestigious project not only demon-strates the enduring beauty and durabilityof brick, but also the ease with which ahistoric masonry structure can be refur-bished and repaired.

77 Gee Street; architect: Munkenbeck & Partners;brickwork contractor: Precision Brickwork; brick:Wienerberger – Terre Doree.88 Carmelite Monastery; architect: Austin-Smith:Lord;brickwork contractor: Nobles Construction; brick:Wienerberger – Con Mosso.99 Alwyne Place; architect: Lipton Plant Architects;brickwork contractor: Barrett Horton Group; brick:Ibstock – Staffordshire Slate Blue Smooth.1010 The Plantation; architect: Paul Elwood; brickworkcontractor: Art London; brick:WH Collier – PrimroseYellow Imperial.1111 New House in Hampshire; architect: NigelAnderson; brickwork contractor: IrvineWhitlock;brick: Dunton – Ewhurst Blend and HG Matthews –Glazed Headers.1212 Archbishop McGrath School; architect: HLM Cardiff;brickwork contractor: Reussir ; brick: Ibstock –Slatesmooth Blue; photo:Trevor Burrows.1313 Hammond Court; architect: Mae Architects;brickwork contractor: Hill Partnership; brick: Hanson –Chelsea Smoked Red & OakThorpe Buff.1414 Phoenix Care Centre; architect: Moloney O’BeirneArchitects; brickwork contractor: John Sisk & Sons;brick: Ibstock – Orange Gorman Blend.1515 The Amsterdam Rijksmuseum; architect: Cruz &Ortiz Arquitectos; brickwork contractor: KoninklijkeWoundenberg; brick: Gillrath Ziegel & Klinkerwerk –Reichsformat (hand moulded).JJuurryy Richard Lavington (Maccreanor Lavington Architects),Bob Allies (Allies & Morrison), Andrew Cainen (WallConsultancy), Jonathan Dawes (Cottrell & VermeulenArchitects), Alan Ferguson (structural engineer andmasonry consultant), Ian McKnight (Hall McKnightArchitects), Andrew Stroud (Worshipful Companyof Tylers & Bricklayers); Joanna van Heyningen(van Heyningen & Haward Architect. Michael Hammett:(former senior architect at the BDA). Michael Driver(former CEO of the Brick Development Association),• For more information on the winning projects andfinalists please visit www.brick.org.uk/brick-awards/.

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Sited in a quiet wooded area nearBuggenhout, north Belgium, House K byGent-based practice Graux & BaeyensArchitecten is a two-storey dwelling plannedaround a central glazed atrium/terrace.The bedrooms and bathrooms are locatedon the ground floor with carefully posi-tioned windows to ensure maximum priva-cy. Some of the openings are recessed,allowing daylight to filter in through brick-sized gaps in the masonry.

The living spaces are located at first floorlevel and are linked to a partially-glazed,south-facing roof terrace. A full-height lou-vred screen shields the terrace from thestreet. Constructed from powder-coated alu-minium, the vertical slats can be rotated tooptimise sunlight from the west.

Thin format, beige-coloured bricks witha rough textured surface are employedexternally, contrasting with the white-paint-ed louvres, roof parapet and triangular-shaped first-floor soffit. Stretcher bond witha one-third lap is combined with rakedmortar joints, to give the walls a robust pro-tective appearance.


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PPhhoottooss Luc Roymans.

Angle of incidencePrivacy and natural light are centralto House K by Graux & Baeyens.

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Towering ambition


PPhhoottooss Edmund Sumner.

Designed by Allies &Morrison, St Andrew’sBlock D is a 27-storey residential tower andadjacent community centre sited in Bromley-by-Bow, east London. The project, whichconstitutes the fourth phase of a masterplan(also by Allies & Morrison) for developerBarratt London, comprises 183 apartmentsarranged around a central core. Each unit typeis stacked vertically and expressed as an individ-ual ‘tower’. The width of each tower varies andis generated by the dimensions of the unit typewithin. Externally, this gives the appearance ofa group of nine individual towers, some risinghigher than others.Each tower is designed to express its

respective apartment type through the use ofproportion, fenestration and balconies. Thetowers are further defined by the use of sevendifferent brick colours, including blue bricks inthe deep recesses separating them. Unusually,given the height of the project, hand-laid brickswere specified rather than prefabricatedmasonry panels. This required a 95-metre highscaffold and involved 20 bricklayers who com-pleted the facades in just 32 weeks.

Hand-laid bricks in seven differentcolours articulate a 94-metre highresidential project by Allies & Morrison.

The starting point for this domestic exten-sion in Mortsel, Belgium, by Antwerp-basedpractice Bovenbouw, was to create a mirrorimage of the existing house at the rear. Inkeeping with its ‘twin’, the new house is con-structed from brick with a tiled pitched roof,chimney and living space located on twofloors. The ‘front’ facade is oriented towardsthe garden, while the side facade foldsinwards where it joins the existing rear eleva-tion. This expands an existing side alleyway,creating a sheltered terrace and externalfocus for the ground-floor kitchen. Theinternal and external brickwork is treated as‘wallpaper’, incorporating a range of differ-ent sizes, bonds and textures.

PPhhoottoo Jonathan Hendry.


Located on the edge of the LincolnshireWolds within an Area of Outstanding NaturalBeauty is a farm office by Jonathan HendryArchitects. Drawing on the existing agricul-tural context and local vernacular buildings,the project is deliberately primitive in itslanguage and detail. The building envelopeis constructed from reclaimed brick withflush lime mortar joints providing a skin-likequality. Brick is also used for the entranceand stair core, referencing traditional brick-lined cart sheds. Openings within the facadeare positioned to maximise views out alongthe valley and across the farmyard. Slidingwindows on the east facade sit flush with theexternal walls in common with the openingson the surrounding agricultural sheds.

Agricultural aestheticA fram office by Jonathan HendryArchitects employs reclaimed bricks.

PPhhoottoo Karin Borghouts.

Mirror imageBrick is treated as ‘wallpaper’ on anidiosyncratic house extension inBelgium by Bovenbouw.

PPhhoottooss Filippo Poli.


Barceló-Balanzó Arquitectes’ CEIP Sant Rocinfant and primary school is situated in Olot,which borders a national park in the volcanicGarrotxa region of Catalonia in Spain.Planned around a longitudinal north-southaxis, the three-storey building is conceived asa series of partially-covered quadrangles.Intended to aid orientation and communica-tion, they also promote daylighting and nat-ural ventilation. Ceramic brick forms the‘modular base’ for the building, with a darkbrown colour chosen to match the volcanicsoil. The bricks are stack-bonded as a meansof demonstrating their non-loadbearingstatus in relation to the rough in-situ con-crete structure. Integrated sections of hollowbrick serve as a brise soleil.

Ground controlA school by Barceló-Balanzó Arquitectescombines stack-bonded brickwork withan expressive concrete structure.

Emmett Scanlon explores the brick architecture ofaward-winning Irish practice O’Donnell & Tuomey.


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On a former timberyard in a historic part ofDublin, where road development has torn thebuilt fabric apart, 47 homes form a red, denseand solid-seeming brick mass. The influentialIrish architects O’ Donnell & Tuomey haveemployed a remarkable, radical and relevantpiece of urban nostalgia as people are literallyput before profit in an effort to avoid the dom-inant ‘living over the shop’ model, which con-tinues to fail in Dublin. Instead, the housinggathers around a new public space, sharedrooms connect to the street and actual frontdoors with doorbells and flowerpots are onceagain put at street level.

In the Timberyard project the architects lookback in order to look forward, not least in theiruse of brick. Dublin is a city of brick houses,mostly two to five storeys high, so to make brickhomes in a city of brick homes seems appropri-ate, a way of fitting in. O’Donnell & Tuomey,having asked the oldest neighbours how best tomake a street, then looked around the city andto the brick-built Georgian terraced houses.

The architects describe their approach to theform and facade as a search for a twenty-firstcentury Georgian hole-in-the-wall building.Housing requires a large number of windows,

LLeefftt Timberyard housing, Dublin (2009), comprises 47 dwellings and astreet-level community room. Brick facades with deep reveals give thedevelopment a solid, urban and robust appearance (phs: Dennis Gilbert).BBeellooww Established in 1988 by Sheila O’Donnell and JohnTuomey,O’Donnell & Tuomey has established an international reputation forcultural, social and educational buildings. Its Lyric Theatre in Belfast wassupreme winner of the 2011 Brick Awards (ph: Paul McCarthy).

but the architects wanted the building toappear urban, solid and robust. To this end, thewindows are staggered or slid away from eachother on each floor, with a quiet rhythm andorder that is apparent if you look for it. Deepdouble-height cuts made in the brick walls andformed into recesses for outdoor living give adepth and scale that allow the individual homesto add up to more than the sum of their parts –the building feels urban and of its city.

The architects admit that they never consid-ered using any material other than brick withthe Timberyard in Dublin, and so too in theirLyric Theatre in Belfast. Something ‘a bit sharpand a bit brick’ was just what the city ordered.Described as a ‘rocks in a stream plan’, theproject has three main rooms organised as for-mally distinct, acoustically isolated volumes,with those working and visting here invited toflow in and around the circulation spacesbetween them.

The theatre is built on a slope and responds

‘To make brick homes in acity of brick homes seemsappropriate, a way of fitting in.’


Inside, the rooms are carefully placed toheighten the spatial sensation of moving in andaround, over and under the main auditoria,rehearsal and workshop spaces. Brick is usedinternally too; it builds up and encloses thosethree main rooms, and brick ‘rugs’ on the floormark out key destination points on the route.As you climb up through the building, you lookoutside to brick streets and walls while movingalong and between brick streets and walls onthe inside. This is a new kind of brick-based


formally both to this stepped condition and toits location between the grid of Belfast streetsand the sinuous River Lagan. The brick formbends and moves to adjust itself, as if to beddown for the night, opening or otherwise. A redblend heritage brick is used to make what thearchitects call a ‘house for the Lyric’. It quietlyhums in harmony with the neighbouring brickterraces and streets, with brick specials madeto ensure a continuity of surface at points offormal change.

AAbboovvee//bbeellooww The Lyric Theatre (2011) stands on a sloping triangular sitesituated between Belfast’s brick streetscape and the River Lagan; section.OOppppoossiittee Brickwork endows the interior spaces with a sense of rawmateriality and archaic construction (phs: Dennis Gilbert).

social engineering, albeit a gentle kind, as thishouse of theatre seeks a sustainable social andpsychological connection with the city in whichit now so firmly resides.An interior and exterior exchange is also part

of the concept behind the Students’ Centre atthe London School of Economics, which is


nearing completion. Here, the surroundingstreets and lanes are gathered up and into abuilding that nestles into a challenging denselybuilt site. This integration occurs both on planand in section. The form of the building tiltsforward and back and steps in and out to dodgeestablished rights-to-light, and to let light andair into its fantastic array of rooms.Commissioned via competition, once again

the architects interpreted the urban context asa city of bricks from the off, heremaking a solid,tilting and folding brick surface, cut orstretched thin to pour or sieve light into thebuilding as required. The Student’s Centre is aproduct of its place.To realise this building in brick was an archi-

tectural, structural and technical challengerequiring O’Donnell & Tuomey to fully andutterly commit to the drawing, making andassembling of brick. Hundreds of drawingswere made for the hundred or so special bricksalone. These were hand-made and hand-laidwith reference to a highly specific, almost step-by-step set of assembly drawings. After muchresearch, paving bricks were used in coloursmatched to the original competition paintings –bricks that would allow and then resist thestanding water that would linger on the ledgesformed from the stepping in and out of thebricks on this remarkable facade.It is rare now in architecture that material is

so inherently part of the built idea, beyond whatit may sensationally deliver in and of itself. Inthe work of O’Donnell & Tuomey, bricks areindeed sensational in and of themselves, butthey add up to something more than just sur-

face or shape, more than the sum of their parts.The material is used to make buildings belongto where they come from, an idea that somewould perhaps argue is old-fashioned, nostalgicor irrelevant in our global, all-access world. InO’Donnell & Tuomey’s hands, bricks, and therooms formed from and within them, havemade materials matter.

LLeefftt Won in competition, the Students’ Centre at the London School ofEconomics (2014) features a tilting and folded brick facade that is cut or‘stretched’ thinly to admit light into the building (ph: Paul Durcan).BBeellooww Front elevation; ground floor plan; brick detail drawings.

Emmett Scanlon is an architect, lecturer at University CollegeDublin and adviser to the Arts Council (Ireland).


A notable entry in the 2013 Brick Awardswas the Farooq-E-Azam Mosque a& IslamicCentre in Parkfield, Stockton-on-Tees, byArchi Structure. Replacing an existingmosque formed from two convertedterraced houses, the building echoes tradi-tional Islamic religious architecture, withdramatic masonry facades punctuated bydeep arched windows outlined in contrast-ing brickwork. The sensitive handling ofmaterials, which is central to Islamic archi-tecture, is evidenced by the choice of brick-work and skillful use of pattern, colour andtexture. The result is a unique and out-standing local landmark.Archi Structure has also designed the

Abu Bakir Mosque & Islamic Centre inReading, Berkshire. The steel-framed build-ing features imposing brick facades withlarge areas of glazing. The intention is tobring light into the building, while reducingits visual mass. Again, the choice of brick-work and materials was carefully selected toreflect Islamic and local architecture.The Brick Awards entries also included

the Peckham Mosque extension andminaret project in London, St Michael’sCathedral in Toronto and the CarmeliteMonastery in Liverpool, which won theArchitect’s Choice Award. PeckhamMosque is located in the largely nineteenth-century Holly Grove Conservation Area, setbeside a Victorian boarding school withhigh-quality decorative brickwork. ArchitectBenedict O’Looney’s intention was to buildbrick minarets with decorative red brickupper stages inspired by both Islamic andBritish arts and crafts architecture.The existing brickwork to the mosque,

built in the mid-1990s, was a yellow multi-stock. For the minaret tops, bricks with adense orange-red hue were specified andhand-made plain tiles were cut into the pro-file to vary the rhythm and introduce bandsof shadow. The top of the minarets are openwith brick piers in a contrasting buff tone.St Michael's Cathedral in Toronto is

currently undergoing a major renewalprogramme, restoring and adding to thebuilding in order to maintain its role as thecentre of a vibrant and growing congrega-


RREEPPOORRTT

Faith in brick

Religious buildings were prevalentamong entries for the 2013 BrickAwards. The BDA’s VivianeWilliams reports.

tion. The original specification included‘the finest picked, white bricks’. These, incombination with a buff Ohio Sandstonegive the cathedral its distinctive character.Due to harsh weather conditions, a numberof the original bricks had deteriorated andrequired replacement. A suitable productwas found in the UK and has been incorpo-

rated into the restoration of the tower walls,alongside the original units. The rich tex-tures of the brickwork contrast with the sur-rounding glass and steel office towers, rein-forcing the cathedral’s role as a place ofcalm reflection in the middle of a busy city.Architect Austin-Smith:Lord chose brick

as the principal material for the Carmelite

Monastery because it ‘embodies a sense oftimelessness, tradition and practicality’.Flemish bond was used as a backgroundweave to add texture and pattern. Theheaders are projected on the curved facadeof the chapel, creating a rich texture thattogether with the curved form expresses themodest chapel as the most important build-


AAbboovvee Carmelite Monastery in Allerton, Liverpool,by Austin-Smith:Lord (ph: SG Photography).AAbboovvee lleefftt Moravian Church, Amsterdam,Holland, by 70F Architecture (ph: Luuk Kramer).BBeellooww (left to right) Farooq-E-Azam Mosque &Islamic Centre, Parkfield, Stockton-on-Tees,by Archi Structure; Abu Bakir Mosque & IslamicCentre in Reading, Berkshire, by Archi Structure;Saint Michael's Cathedral,Toronto, Canada; PeckhamMosque extension and minaret project in Londonby Benedict O’Looney (phs: courtesy of the BDA).

ing in the community. Recessed headers onthe third floor establish a datum that tiesthe composition together. Brickwork is alsoused internally in the chapel and the clois-ter, adding robustness to the spaces.Looking further afield, brick has long

been the material of choice for contempo-rary European religious buildings. An

example is the recently completedMoravian Church in Amsterdam by 70FArchitecture. Light and the colour white areof great importance to the church liturgy.Daylight enters the main church hallthrough a steeply-raked rooflight. This alsoserves as a beacon at night. The mainentrance with its glass facade also emits

light, as if extending a welcome to the sur-rounding context. The building’s simple yetexpressive massing is articulated using apale white/yellow brick with one-brick deepopenings for doors, window and curtainwalling. With its sober and self-effacingcharacter, the building subordinates itself toit’s function, says the architect.


The latest guidance document fromthe Brick Development Associationcomments on the use of reclaimedclay bricks.

A key advantage of specifying new bricks isthat they are made to an established stan-dard, BS EN 771-1 ‘Specification for ClayBricks’. There is also a wide selection avail-able and new bricks are typically more costeffective than reclaimed bricks. The appealof reclaimed bricks is that they may havedeveloped a particular character, being fullymatured and weathered. Depending on thesituation it may be more ‘environmentallyfriendly’ to use a reclaimed brick. Currentlyreclaimed bricks have a certain cachet; theyare less widely available, more expensive andhave a distinctive appearance. The followingnotes raise points to consider when compar-ing reclaimed bricks with new, and describethe process of reclaiming bricks.

Technical appearance – traditional methodof manufacture and current methodsMany specifiers choose reclaimed bricks inthe mistaken belief that bricks of similarappearance are not available as newly manu-factured materials. In particular, they are notaware that handmade bricks are still current-ly manufactured.

Many tolerate the distressed state ofreused brick, resulting from the process ofreclamation, in the belief that there is noalternative. Several companies do continueto make handmade bricks however; some aretraditionally clamp fired and produced inexactly the same way as brickmakers havedone for centuries. Other companies havedeveloped simulated handmade brickswhich look handmade but have been manu-factured by modern machine methods.

Weathered appearance – tips for toningdown new bricksOld brickwork often has a pleasing weath-ered appearance or natural patina, suggest-ing that the reuse of reclaimed brick is thebest way to obtain a mature character tonewly built work. New brickwork may standout from established work, but it can be treat-ed to tone it in. One method of doing this isto apply a soot wash, which is made by soak-ing a sack of soot in a container of water andapplying washes to the brick until therequired degree of darkening has beenachieved. Commercial wash preparationsare now available that perform the same

TTEECCHHNNIICCAALL GGUUIIDDAANNCCEE

function and advice can be obtained fromEnglish Heritage regarding their application.

Experimenting on a trial area first is wise,applying washes to the brick until therequired degree of darkening has beenachieved. In practice it is best not to tone thebrickwork too much as the surface of newbrickwork will darken naturally. Alternativelythere are a wide variety of commercial tintsand colours which can be used to alter ormatch a brick finish.

Generally, these commercial tints are bothsuccessful and long-lasting prior to the natu-ral aging process taking over. Brick tintingusing modern materials is best carried out byexperts in the field. It is always advised to testa small unimportant or sample panel beforecommiting to more extensive work.

Another method which may be used inrural areas is to apply a solution of eithersoaked cow pats (manure) in water, or yogurtor sour milk in water. This promotes thegrowth of lichens and mosses and encour-ages an ecosystem into the wall surface.


Life cycle aspects of the re-use of claybuilding productsBecause of their long service life, clay build-ing products can be reclaimed and re-usedprovided that all appropriate technical con-siderations are addressed. If it is not possiblefor them to be re-used then a number ofopportunities exist for the materials to berecycled for appropriate construction pur-poses. It is essential that every effort shouldbe made to eliminate the disposal of materi-als from deconstructed buildings to landfill.This forms one of the main conclusions ofthe Clay Brick and Clay Block ResourceEfficiency Action Plan (REAP), which wasissued in October 2013.The life cycle impacts of the re-use and

recycling of clay building products havebeen addressed previously in the BRE‘Environmental Profile’ for clay bricks. It isthis profile which underpins the GreenGuide rating of A+ for the use of clay bricksin all common masonry wall formats in theUK. Life cycle impacts are now being includ-

The Reclaimed Clay Bricks guidance notealso includes information on the suitabilityof old bricks for new work, the process ofreclaiming brick, environmental issues,and case studies. The BDA offers the advicein good faith. While it is true that bricks thathave been produced under EN 771-1 in recentyears are likely to last for 150 years this maynot be true of recycled bricks. Bricks reusedrequire to be tested and qualified to confirmthat they are suitable for the purpose intended.It is not advised that bricks are reused withouttesting unless they are known to have beenproduced to EN771-1. The guidance notecan be downloaded free of charge from theBDA website under ‘Design Guidance’ (details:www.brick.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/BDAs-comment-on-Reclaimed-Bricks.pdf).

AAbboovvee (clockwise from far left) The gable wall at LayerMarney Hall in Colchester, Essex, was replaced using500-year-old bricks taken from new window voidsin the side elevation; the Norman rebuilding of theCathedral and Abbey Church in Saint Alban,Hertfordshire, made use of brick from the remainsof the Roman city of Verulamium; approximately 40square metres of reclaimed bricks were used in therefurbishment of a house in Teddington, Middlesex.

ed within the Environmental ProductDeclaration (EPD) for a construction prod-uct following the methodology established inBS EN 15804, 2012 – ‘Sustainability of con-struction works – Environmental ProductDeclaration – Core rules for the product cat-egory of construction products’.The life cycle benefits of re-use and recy-

cling of clay building products are generallyaddressed in modules C and D of the EPDaccording to the rules in BS EN 15804.Essentially the environmental impacts ofpreparing the material for re-use or recyclinghave to be assessed and then balancedagainst the environmental benefits of this usewhereby the requirement for virgin construc-tion materials is replaced. The followingsections give some examples of how claybuilding products can be appropriately re-used or recycled.

Life cycle aspects of the recycling of claybuilding productsClay products that cannot be directly reused

are usually crushed and then used again invarious construction applications includingroad construction, agricultural and quarryroads, embankments, tennis courts etc. Ageneric definition of the principles of mod-ule C of BS EN 15804 is given below.

Module C:• Demolition/deconstruction of the clayproduct.• Collection of the demolition materials atthe building site.• Transport from the building site to asorting plant (if any, sometimes at the build-ing site) including any packaging whennecessary.• Sorting process (sorting plant or at thebuilding site).• Transport of clay construction waste towaste processing.• Primary crushing of clay constructionwaste up to the end-of-waste state is reached(according to the criteria of BS EN 15804 –paragraph 6.3.4.5).

Documents

Emmett Scanlon on O’Donnell & Tuomey’s brick works Masonry ... · promotes excellence in the architectural, structural and landscape applications of brick and pavers. The BDA