2019-07-01 Homebuilding & Renovating

BUYER’sgUiDE

Versatile,timeless anddurable,there’smoreto

thehumblebrickthanmeetstheeye.Here’swhat

youneedtoknowbefore makingyourchoice

Your guide

to building

with brick

MichEllEgUY

is AssistantEditor

ofHB&R.

sheis an

experienced

homesjournalist

andis currently

planninga kitchen

renovation

Right:Architect

stuartArcherandhis

wiferenovatedand

extendedthislondon

stockbrickhome,

choosingtobuild

a sideextensionin

contemporaryblack

brick.theywantedto

usemodernmaterials

torepresentthe

timeit wasbuiltand

pickedtheibstock

Atlasengineered

brickswiththeir

smoothandconsistent

appearance.

byMichelleGuy

W

henyoustartoutona

self-buildorextension

journeywhatyouthink

youknowaboutbuilding

materialsgetsknockedsideways.

Asyoubegintoinvestigate

what’soutthereyourknowledge

undoubtedlygrowsbutsotoo

cantheconfusion.Whattopick

canbecomea littleoverwhelming.

And,asbuildingmaterialsgo,the

worldofbricksis morevastthan

you’dthink.

Brickshavebeena mainstay

buildingmaterial,staunchly

holdingupthewallsofhundreds

ofthousandsofbuildingsin the

UKforcenturies.Sosurely,a

brick’sa brick?Notso.Tone,

textureandformallcomeintoplay

• softyellowhuesorduskyred
  bricks;reclaimed,machine-made,
  handmade;metricorimperial–
  there’slotsto consider.

Sowheretostart?

Thelocalvernacularis a good

placetobegin.Interestingly,

buildingwithbrickhasa

particularstrongholdover

theself-buildmarketsinthe

MidlandsandtheNorth,and

becauseofthedominancethat

theSouthEasthaswhenit comes

toself-buildactivity(19%of

allself-buildstakeplaceinthe

region)thispartofthecountry

is alsothemostimportantto

thebrickcompanies*.Soit

maysoundobvious,butwhat

materialsareusedinthelocal

areawillhaveanimpactonthe

externalappearanceyougo

for,orareallowedtogofor.If

theareayouwanttobuildin

featuresthesoftyellowhuesof

Cotswoldstone,forexample,

choosingtobuildentirelyoutof

Staffordshirebluebricksprobably

won’tbefavouredbyyourlocal

planningoffice.Butthat’snot

tosayyoucan’tapproachyour

localplannerstoaskwhattheir

stanceis onmaterials.It’snot

uncommontoseecontemporary

designsincorporatea contrasting

brickextension(asright),soit’s

alwaysworthinvestigatingwhat’s

likelytopassplanningat thestart

ofyourproject.

Themainwallswillformthe

bestpartoftheoverallexterior

designsoyouwanttomake

surethebricksyouchooselet

yourbuildstandoutforthe

rightreasons.“Brickswillmake

upapproximately6%ofyour

totalbuildcost,yetaesthetically

theywilldefinethesuccessand

kerbappealofa project,so

it’sworthspendinga fraction

moretoachievethebestquality

finishpossible,”advisesJason

Hughes,ManagingDirectorof

ImperialBricks.“It’sdifficultand

expensivetoalterthefaçadeof

a home,soyouneedtobesure

beforethebrickiesturnup.”

Sohowareclay

bricksmade?

Thefirstpartoftheprocess

beginsat a quarrysite.Theclayis

extractedandthengoesthrougha

processthattransformsthehard,

rawmaterialintoa mouldable

one.Theclayis crushedand

mixedwithcertainquantitiesof

watertomakeit malleableenough

toshape.Claybricksarethen

formedusingdifferentmethods.

Eachmethodthendetermines

thecharacteristicsofthebrick.

“Handmadeormachinemade

brickswilldeterminetheoverall

finish,”saysSophieWilbraham,

ManagingDirector,London

ReclaimedBrickMerchants.

“Handmadebricks,forexample,

arebestfora barn-stylebuild

astheywillgivethatauthentic,

rusticlook.If you’recarryingout

renovationsonanexistingbuild

thenI wouldsuggestusinga

brickmatchingservicetofindthe

mostsuitable.”

Bricktypes

MAchinEMADEIf you’relookingfor

a smoothfinishthenanextruded

orwire-cutclaybrickcouldbea

goodchoice.Theclayis extruded

(pushedout)intoa column.The

columnofclayis thenwire-cut

andtokeepit smoothit isn’t

modifiedbeforedryingandfiring

inthekiln.Thisis a moremodern

methodofbrickmakingandis

alsoknownaswire-cut.

Design & Materials

*Homebuilding

&Renovating

Self

&Cu

Stom

build

ma

Rket

Repo

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2017;

image:

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76 homebuilding.co.uk