BRICK BULLETIN

Beatrice Galilee on China’s young brick builders

Studio Gang recycles a Chicago stables building
Peter Blundell Jones on Lewerentz’ Klippan church
Panter Hudspith’s brick tour-de-force in Southwark
First Person: Alan Pert of Nord Architecture
SUMMER 2010 Technical: designing brick diaphragm walls
 BRICK BULLETIN SUMMER 2010

Contents Inspired by tradition

4 NEWS It’s too easy to see brick con-
From an eye surgery in Surrey to a struction as a quintessentially
bridge in Nijmegen; brick awards; First English or North European
Person: Alan Pert of Nord Architecture phenomenon. In fact the earli-
6 PROJECTS est archaeological evidence of
Sergey Skuratov, John McAslan, Edward fired brick dates back 3000
Cullinan Architects, Cartwright Pickard, years to Xi’an in China where,
Studio Gang, Krier Kohl, Panter Hudspith by the twelfth century, brick
12 PROFILE production was a sophisticated
Beatrice Galilee on how a generation of industry. So its not surprising
young Chinese architects is responding that a generation of young
to the traditions of brick building Chinese architects, profiled in
18 PRECEDENT this issue, sees in brick a way to
Peter Blundell Jones on Klippan Church reconnect with history while
by Swedish architect Sigurd Lewerentz inventing a new future.
22 TECHNICAL
To find out more about the bricks or pavers
Designing brick diaphragm walls in featured projects, or to submit work, email
[email protected] or phone 020 7323 7030.

BDA member companies

Blockleys Brick t +44 (0)1952 251933 www.michelmersh.com
Bovingdon Brickworks t +44 (0)1442 833176 www.bovingdonbricks.co.uk
Broadmoor Brickworks t +44 (0)1594 822255 [email protected]
Bulmer Brick & Tile Co t +44 (0)1787 269 232 [email protected]
Caradale Traditional Brick t +44 (0)1501 730671 www.caradale.co.uk
Carlton Brick t +44 (0)1226 711521 www.carltonbrick.co.uk
Charnwood Forest Brick t +44 (0)1509 503203 www.michelmersh.com
Chartwell Brickworks t +44 (0)1732 463712 www.chartwellbrickworks.com
Coleford Brick & Tile t +44 (0)1594 822160 www.colefordbrick.co.uk
Dunton Brothers t +44 (0)1494 772111 www.michelmersh.com
Freshfield Lane Brickworks t +44 (0)1825 790350 www.flb.uk.com
Furness Brick & Tile Co t +44 (0)1229 462411 www.furnessbrick.com
Hanson UK t +44 (0)870 609 7092 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 t +44 (0)1384 78361 www.ketley-brick.co.uk
Lagan Brick t +353 (0)42 9667317 www.laganbrick.com
Michelmersh Brick & Tile t +44 (0)1794 368506 www.michelmersh.com
AJ Mugridge t +44 (0)1952 586986 www.ajmugridge.co.uk
Normanton Brick t +44 (0)1924 892142
Northcot Brick t +44 (0)1386 700551 www.northcotbrick.co.uk
Ormonde Brick t +353 (0)56 4441323 www.ormondebrick.ie
Phoenix Brick Company t +44 (0)1246 471576 www.bricksfromphoenix.co.uk
Wm C Reade of Aldeburgh t +44 (0)1728 452982 [email protected]
Swarland Brick Co t +44 (0)1665 574229 [email protected]
Tower Brick & Tile t +44 (0)1420 488489 www.towerbrickandtile.co.uk
Tyrone Brick t +44 (0)28 8772 3421 www.tyrone-brick.com
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

Brick Bulletin Summer 2010

Executive editor: Katherina Lewis
t: 020 7323 7030 e: [email protected]
Frontispiece
Danilovskiy Fort business Brick Development Association, The Building
centre, Moscow, by Sergey Centre, 26 Store Street, London, WC1E 7BT
Skuratov Architects
The BDA represents manufacturers of clay
(ph: Yury Palmin).
brick and pavers in the UK and Ireland and
Cover promotes excellence in the architectural,
Yangzhou community structural and landscape applications of brick
centre, by Zhang Lei – AZL
and pavers. The BDA provides practical,
Architects (ph: Iwan Baan).
technical and aesthetic advice and information
Back cover through its website www.brick.org.uk, in its
Brick-Weave House, numerous publications and over the phone.
Chicago, by Studio Gang
Architects (ph: Steve Hall/ Published by the BDA ©2010
Hedrich Blessing). Editorial and design: Architecture Today plc
2 • BB SUMMER 10 BB SUMMER 10 • 3
NEWS

Brick Awards country our streets and parks bear a familiar this reason we have created a ‘heavy’ object
image of brick buildings housing the workings fixed to the ground plane, embedded in the
The Principality of Liechtenstein’s state forum that facilitate our lives: pumping stations, park and rooted within the city. This heaviness
and parliament by Hansjörg Göritz sewage works and treatment plants. is in counterpoint to the arenas, which seem
Architecture Studio (below, see Brick Bulletin The setting for London 2012 is a park and to sit on top of the landscape with a light
Summer 2008) has won the Wienerberger the legacy of the games is as much about touch, as if they have a transient relationship
Brick Awards 2010 (www.brick10.com). these ancillary structures as it is about the to the park similar to the event itself.
Located in Vaduz, the scheme was praised by main stadium, aquatics centre and various are- The brick skin of the substation is either
the judges for its contextual approach and nas. But while the venues have to tackle issues solid or perforated according to the need to
materiality. Second prize went to the South of adaption and contraction in the aftermath contain or let air pass. The brick is not just an
Asian Human Rights Documentation Centre of the games, the utility structures will be enveloping surface – it is a loadbearing struc-
in Delhi, India, by Anagram Architects (left). fixed, permanent structures guarded in legacy ture, veneer, roofscape and landscape. This is
Described as unusually poetic, the project as they are in games mode. It was for this rea- a building which articulates its purpose
makes use of a repeating brick module to cre- son that the image of the building, the charac- through the use of a single material handled
ate an optically complex pattern. Nikolaus ter of the ‘family’ of utility structures and the in a variety of ways. The building is 70 metres
Bienefeld’s Morjan-Poeten House in Germany longevity of the fabric were priorities. As the long, 16 metres high at the west and nine
claimed third prize (photos: Wienerberger). first building out of the ground within the metres high at the east. There are 20,000 per-
• Meanwhile, the deadline for entries to the park, the substation had the opportunity, but forations for ventilation around the coolers
Brick Development Association’s annual Brick First person: Alan Pert also the difficult task of interpreting the lan- and 130,000 bricks. The brickwork is continu-
Awards is 25 June. The awards will be present- guage of the historic utility structures remain- ous, sculptural and monolithic in its presence.
ed at the Marriott Grosvenor Square Hotel in The substation at King’s Yard in Hackney Wick ing on the site. It was a visit to St Bride’s Roman Catholic
London on 3 November. For details on tables will meet all the electricity needs of the 2012 The choice of brick is about a heaviness, a church in the New Town of East Kilbride,
and tickets email [email protected] or Olympic Games via 80 miles of new under- solidity and about a material which will evoke built in 1963 by Gillespie, Kidd & Coia, that
telephone the BDA 020 7323 7030. ground cables. The main stadium is set to be a sense of timelessness. We wanted to avoid an first introduced me to the limitless possibilities
the first venue powered in this way. ephemeral identity for our building, in con- of working with a simple brick. St Bride’s
The substation was originally intended as a trast to the brief lifespan of the event itself. makes the material seem so familiar yet at the
concrete and steel core wrapped with a steel The Olympic Games temporarily inhabits a same time so mysterious. The great mass of
mesh skin, according to Foreign Office host city every four years and leaves a signifi- the 100-foot-high brick walls appears to
Architects’ masterplan proposals for utility cant imprint on its built environment. Too change dramatically as light travels round the
structures within the Olympic Park. NORD’s often this imprint can be consumer-orientated facades, highlighting courses, reveals, joints,
competition proposal challenged this and not rooted to that city. Cities are often left patterns and perforations. At times the walls
approach, referring instead to the rich British with buildings that appear like tourists who seem to have been sculpted from a single
history of brick-built utility buildings. have forgotten to leave. But these utility struc- block of material; at other times the countless
Structures of this nature are part of the every- tures will have to stay and they have a purpose individual bricks that make up the structure
day experience of our cities. Up and down the to serve long after the games have gone. For are revealed. In his book on the work of GKC,
Gordon Benson records that ‘the instruction
to the bricklayers was never lay more than six
Toh Shimazaki’s brickwork quilt
headers or stretchers in a row’.
Brick was very familiar to architects of that
Toh Shimazaki Architecture has obtained
era not least due to economic pressures and
planning approval for an eye surgery on a
the scarce availability of materials after the
corner site in Oxshott, Surrey. The project
war, but they used it with great confidence
comprises an extended frontage with retail
and inventiveness. Today, architects have far
space, the re-fit of an existing building and a
more material choices available to us, and we
rear extension housing a consultation room
also find ourselves under pressure to construct
and operating theatre. Envisaged as a ‘brick-
with speed and precision. But what are the
work quilt’, the facades will be constructed
consequences for the material character of
from three types of local brick in recessed,
our cities? I often associate our modern town-
flush and projecting planes, and incorporate
scapes with a sense of hollowness – lightweight
a number of fixing methods.
and lacking in material quality. Too many of
our buildings appear gleaming, shiny and
Masonry bridge over the Waal
smooth, morning, noon and night. Whatever
the weather their character does not change.
Belgian practice NeyPoulissen Architects &
With brick there is an amazing diversity of pos-
Engineeers has won an international competi-
sibilities, but common to all is an inherent
tion to design a new bridge over the River Waal
sense of permanence.
in Nijmegen, Holland. Connecting the west of
the city to the ring road and facilitating the
Professor Alan Pert is a partner with NORD
redevelopment of the southern docklands, the Architecture and director of research at the
main tied-arch structure will span 285 metres. University of Strathclyde.
Formed from insitu concrete and brick, the
approach viaducts will span over 900 metres Left St Bride’s church, East Kilbride, by Gillespie Kidd &
Coia (ph: Peter Guthrie, www.peterguthrie.net).
and celebrate the city’s Roman heritage. Right NORD’s Olympic substation (ph: Andrew Lee).

4 • BB SUMMER 10 BB SUMMER 10 • 5
PROJECTS

Slanted and enchanted

Moscow’s Danilovskiy Fort

business centre by Sergey Skuratov
is a catalyst for urban renewal.
Plywood solar
baffle

Situated on the bank of the Moscow River in a

Corrugated Metal
Sheet Roof

Ceiling to close ventilation

gap and provide acoustic

former industrial area five kilometres south of separation

Efficient timber
roof truss with

the city centre, Sergey Skuratov Architects’

metal rod tie

Gutter for rainwater

collection and
recycling

Danilow business centre is envisaged as a gen- Stabilised Soil

Brick walls

erator for urban redevelopment. 75mm thin Concrete slab

Projecting anti-termite nib

The 7000 square metre project comprises

three brick towers (six, ten and twelve storeys
Burnt brick spread
foundation

high) arranged around a raised, open-air Malawi Schools project the world’s least developed and most densely association with Arup, comprises a central ter- roof structure uses much lighter trusses than
Typical section through classroom building

courtyard. The latter takes the form of an populated countries. race with double-doors to the classrooms on is normal in Malawi, and in the most com-
artificial hill, articulated by rectangular sky- The brief was for a 170-pupil facility that either side and shaded spaces at both ends of monly available sizes cut from sustainable tree
lights, lawns and flower pots. A pair of glazed would double as a community resource, the building. This provides five teaching species. A stressed, galvanised tin skin is
elements protrude from opposing towers, John McAslan & Partners’ pro-bono Malawi improve light and ventilation, be constructed spaces and three community-use terraces. screwed to the purlins, providing lateral stabil-
signalling to each other and uniting the com- Schools project is a multi-building commis- by local builders using locally-sourced Burned brick foundations replace the con- ity and eliminating the need for additional
position. Parking is provided for 380 cars at sion set up by the Clinton-Hunter materials, and most important of all, cost no crete strip foundations commonly used. A timber bracing.
basement level. Development Initiative and aimed at provid- more than conventional schools (£15,000). 75mm slab works with a soleplate of unusually
Externally, sculptural red/orange brick ing a design model for rural schools in one of The design, which was developed in thin bricks to mediate seismic movement. The Credits Photos: Eldson Changara.

facades in varying shades and tones contrast

with the orthogonal plan and fully-glazed Business model
ground floor. The main riverside facade curves
inwards, while subtle changes in the size and
rhythm of the fenestration on the towers are
intended to avoid the monotony inherent in
many large-scale commercial developments.

Credits Photos: Yury Palmin. Loadbearing brick walls are used

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at a Doncaster office building by
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Cartwright Pickard Architects.

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Developed in response to a shortfall in high

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quality office space in Doncaster, and the

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need to attract more businesses and invest-

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ment to the town, the Prince’s Street devel-

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opment by Cartwright Pickard Architects is a

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five-storey commercial building, occupying

the corner of a brownfield site.
 

Conceived as a simple brick form punc-

tured by a glass box, the project employs
loadbearing brick facades in Flemish bond.
Deep window reveals create a regular rhythm
and reduce solar gain. Brick is used to
complement the surrounding context, while
the bond and variation in colour contrast
with an adjacent brick office building. The
loadbearing facades also minimise the
amount of secondary structure needed,
resulting in cost savings.

Left Corner entrance on front elevation.

Right Detail elevation and section through facade.
Credits Architect: Cartwright Pickard Architects; project
team: Peter Cartwright, Steve McConnell, James Arkle, Ian
Wright, Gwyn Williams; structure: BWB Consulting;
services: EDCM Consulting: fire: Arup Fire; client: Lazarus
Properties: photos: Daniel Clements.

6 • BB SUMMER 10 BB SUMMER 10 • 7
 Defensibly domestic

Krier Kohl Architects’ fortress-like

residential scheme in Holland.
Situated between Beverwijk and Heemskerk
in north Holland, Broekpolder includes
3,350 new-build homes for sale and rent. At
the heart of the scheme is the Citadel,
designed by Krier Kohl Architects with
Saarberg Van der Scheer & Partners.
Comprising 430 dwellings and a social and
medical centre, the high-density quarter is
planned like a historic fortress, complete with
a moat, towers, embankments and bridges.
Traditional streets and squares comprise
mainly terraced brick buildings, differentiat-
ed by variation in detailing, fenestration,
colour and tone. Vienna-based Rob Krier is
the brother of Prince Charles’ Poundbury
masterplanner Leon, and author of many
books including Stadtraum (Urban Space).
Brick-Weave House and weaving in new elements, the architect
was able to reuse 30 per cent of the original
The brick screen animates the interior with
dappled light, establishing a visual connection
Studio Gang Architects’ Brick!Weave House structure. The external walls and roof were to and from the street. At night the pattern is
Left Varied brick facades create a sense of rhythm. occupies the footprint of a 100-year-old stable removed, creating a garden surrounded by a reversed, with the screen becoming a lantern.
Below Aerial view showing the star-shaped Citadel with on Chicago’s West Side. The owner had porous woven-brick screen. The cascading sec-
moat, towers and bridges (ph: ING).
intended to refurbish the entire building until tion of changing ceiling and floor levels knits Key 1 Garden, 2 dining, 3 kitchen, 4 library, 5 living,
Credits Architect: Krier Kohl Architects; implementation
6 wc, 7 laundry, 8 storage, 9 plant, 10 garage, 11 family, 12
architect/engineer: Saarberg Van der Scheer & Partners; earlier fire damage was uncovered. By strategi- the two!storey garden at the front of the house study/bedroom, 13 bath, 14 bedroom.
client : ING Real Estate, Vomar, Deltapolder; photos:
Werry Crone, ING (aerial).
cally cutting away those parts beyond repair to the single!storey rear volume at the back. Credits Photos: Steve Hall/Hedrich Blessing.

8 • BB SUMMER 10 BB SUMMER 10 • 9
Tower of learning Boxing clever

Edward Cullinan’s library and Brick massing is used to skillful

IT centre at Fitzwilliam College. effect on a mixed-use development
in Southwark by Panter Hudspith.
Designed by Edward Cullinan Architects, the
Bear Lane is a £14m mixed-use development 4
new library and IT facility at Fitzwilliam
College, Cambridge, extends and completes located on a triangular site in Southwark, 3
the east wing of the 1959 Denys Lasdun south London. The mass of the building is
college masterplan. The junction between broken down through the use of stacked ele- 5
the library and the existing residential block ments so the scheme is perceived as some-
is marked by a three-storey tower which con- thing other than a typical apartment building.
tains reading spaces arranged around a heli- In selecting the facing brick two criteria
cal stair. The tower serves not only as a device were considered. First, they were to echo the
to extend the main body of the library above stocks used in the nineteenth-century ware- 2
the roof line of the adjacent housing, but houses that once dominated the area.
also as a pivot to rotate the western elevation Second, it was felt that the use of two differ-
ing yet related brick types would emphasise 7
in relation to the Grove, a house which
predates the college and now sits in the the notion of the building being created
centre of its grounds. from separate brick ‘boxes’.
6
The reinforced concrete structure is clad The stacked blocks are constructed from
in a dark brick with a quarter bond to soften one of two shades of stock-type brick selected
the radius and emphasise the spiral expres- for the upper floors, with metal windows
sion implied by the windows. The masonry complementing the brickwork and board-
elements are interspersed with vertical oak lined balconies. The ground floor features 2
timber panels which anticipate the chalky grey metal shopfront windows between
gault of the Grove’s masonry facades. reconstituted stone columns that raise the
The architect says brick was a natural stacked volumes off the ground.
choice for the library as Lasdun’s original Precast brick lintels are used not only to
design for the college comprised a strong hor- separate the brick boxes with the starting
izontal concrete frame carried on an army of and stopping of the two main types of con-
vertical blue/black brick soldier courses. The trasting facing brickwork, but also to create
library continues the theme of light brick single-brick-depth window reveals where
tones at the college, evidenced in previous required. These allow the windows to be
schemes by MJP, van Heyningen & Haward located either flush with the facades or
and Allies & Morrison. recessed by 200mm, further emphasising the 1
movement within the massing.
Credits Photos: Simon Feneley.
To complete the illusion, it was essential
that the exposed balcony soffits – formed by
the contrasting facing masonry being ‘pulled
apart’ – were constructed of brick, say the
architects, since this would allow the mason-
ry to feel like it was a volume and not merely
a skin. Engineered brick-slip soffit panels
formed part of the carpentry package, with
the brickwork subcontractor pointing up the
slips after they were installed to match the
facing brickwork.
Below Typical upper floor plan.
Above Right Detail section through facade. Key: 1 in-situ
cast concrete floor slab, 2 clay facing brickwork, 3 brick
faced precast lintel and soffit edging, 4 brick support sys-
tem, 5 brick-slip soffit, 6 powder coated steel handrail,
7 composite timber/aluminium door.
Credits Photos: Keith Collie.

DW

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10 • BB SUMMER 10 BB SUMMER 10 • 11
PROFILEo In thirty years of almost unstoppable urban develop- destroyed and replaced by cheap concrete towers or and tradition, the simple brick offers a solution that model for a number of contemporary domestic The compound was built for just £34,000 but, as
ment, China has largely imported, borrowed or entirely razed for major commercial developments. is economic, mass-produced, employs local workers projects, from artist and architect Ai Wei Wei’s own with everything he does, the selection of bricks was
Brick has become the backbone of a new scripted its architecture from existing international But for all the government’s efforts to obliterate and recalls another age. As such, it forms the back- studio to the renovation of an artist’s home by not an elementary or economic decision. Much of
Chinese vernacular led by some of the models. No expense has been spared in painting a what it regarded as its provincial history, there are bone of a new Chinese vernacular led by some of the Studio Zhu Pei and the playful use of pattern by Ai Wei Wei’s artistic and spatial practice is a reflec-
most important architects in the country, portrait of a country of infrastructure, urbanism still parts of old Beijing and Shanghai where the soft most important architects in the country. Zhang Lei. Ma Qingyun, director of MADA Spam tion or negotiation on the sea-changes in China. In
says Beatrice Galilee. and architecture. But during the same period, the grey bricks form nostalgic city quarters, and in rural Chengdu-based architect Liu Jiakun describes his often describes the courtyard house he built for his his artwork Gift from Beijing, he salvaged bricks
government has overseen a programme of holistic China, they are a ubiquitous, cheap form of con- office’s search for the equilibrium, and why he father in Xian as his smallest and best project. from the historic Beijing hutongs that were
destruction of the traditional Chinese way of living, struction. As such, the brick has become a symbol of returns to simple materials: ‘We are trying to find In the Caochangdi district, amongst a complex of destroyed by the government and made presenta-
leaving the country’s architects unsure of how to the tension between modern future-forward China the equilibrium point between high-level technology factories and warehouses, Ai Wei Wei has built a tion boxes for them. He uses his architecture as a
acknowledge a fast-eroding history and trying to and a defiance to retain a past that the government and architectural art through convincing design series of Miesean, flat dark-grey brick walls that statement against the government, a defiance
answer the question of what it means to be a would rather leave behind. philosophy and complete intelligence. Only thus define the boundaries of his private studio and large against succumbing to the blind commercialism
contemporary Chinese architect that is truly con- For a new architectural vanguard in China, the can we explore an appropriate architectural strategy office. The stark blank walls have a Swiss precision in that proliferates across the country.
temporary and truly Chinese. grey brick forms a crucial part of an ongoing suitable for countries or areas with poor economic both execution and proportion, perhaps betraying
Since the 1980s, 90 per cent of the warren-like exchange and mediation between modernism and conditions but profound cultural treasures.’ his close relationship with Herzog & de Meuron, Above Museum of Cultural Revolution Clocks in Chengdu, Sichuan
Province by Liu Jiakun Architects. Combining commercial and cultural
grey brick alleys (huntongs) and courtyards tradition. While foreign architects would barely con- The traditional three-sided Chinese courtyard, as with whom he designed the 2008 Olympic stadium, functions, the project contrasts the bustle and noise of the former with
(siheyuan) that made up Beijing have been sider it in their search for identity, materiality, roots found in the ancient imperial palaces, has been the and his own predilection for simplicity and order. the quiet serenity of the latter (phs: Iwan Baan).

12 • BB SUMMER 10 BB SUMMER 10 • 13
 For Ai Wei Wei and Herzog & de Meuron’s Above/right Studio House I, Tongxian, Beijing by stick’, recording every trace that history has made on intervention, but it is clearly deferential. ‘There
Atelier 100s+1. The brick walls are laid in both
experimental masterplanning project for a new cul- Flemish bond (with alternating stretchers and
it. ‘To repeat what we have done in the past means are memories and remains from the Cultural
tural district in Ordos, Inner Mongolia (see BB headers) and Running bond (stretchers only). injecting sleeping pills into the already pale and old Revolution, Nationalist China and the Qing
Summer 2009), he built a series of 12 elegant light- Opposite The studio and residence of Ai Wei Wei Beijing’, says the architect. ‘Demolishing the old Dynasty,’ says Zhu Pei, and ‘all of them have been
is in Caochangdi, north-east Beijing. Set within an
grey brick courtyard houses with a roof terrace and enclosed courtyard, the 500 square metre building means cutting off Beijing’s historical and cultural preserved or reinforced.’
shared space with a slate finish. His collaboration is constructed from red brick and in-situ concrete, root. I like conflicts because they insert new energy In projects such as the Blur hotel, in which he
with traditional blue-grey Beijing brick used exter-
with the Basel-based practice HHF, which is one of into the city. To sustain the city we have to stay developed his own shape of glass brick for the
nally. Inside, the red brick infill panels are left
the first buildings to be completed on the Ordos exposed and interspersed with panels of white contemporary.’ facade, and his proposal for the Guggenheim
site, is also a brick construction. The scheme uses painted plaster. Skylights flood the double-height In transforming an existing courtyard into a Museum in Beijing, Zhu Pei professes his moderni-
spaces with natural daylight.
repeating patterns of dark-grey brick to create tex- Below Fake Design’s recently completed
studio and residence for renowned Chinese artist ty as an iteration of something quintessentially
ture and shade on the facade. Undercover Villa forms part of the Ordos 100 Cai Guo-Qiang, Zhu Pei has meticulously preserved Chinese. In this regard he is a test case for the new
The approach of Zhu Pei – one of the few Chinese project in Inner Mongolia. The 2000 square metre the existing structure and used different coloured generation. ‘I feel I have a sense of mission,’ he says.
dwelling comprises a series of individual volumes
architects building outside China – is to reinforce the that are buried into the site to preserve the bricks to establish three internal zones, including a ‘I hope I can bring the western way of working, the
old and introduce the new. The Residence for an surrounding landscape. The spaces are arranged sharply modern brushed steel box which absorbs idea of precision, to architectural design in China.
either side of a north-south axis allowing daylight
Artist adapted an existing dilapidated courtyard the light. In the context of its neighbouring As the country pushes on with urbanisation, it
into the deep plan and providing views outs. The
house. Zhu Pei describes the house as a ‘memory in-situ concrete structure is clad with grey brick. traditional buildings it is undoubtedly a modern will see a new generation of architects that

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produce work with a Chinese style. I think they will Above/below Atelier Zhang Lei’s Three-courtyard community centre is situ- Above/left Located in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, the Ye House In Chegdu, China’s answer to Peter Zumthor, Liu
ated on the eastern edge of Yangzhou in central Jiangsu Province. Serving an by Atelier Zhang Lei is conceived as an evolution of the proto-
eventually number among the first rate, interna- existing agricultural community to the east and a recently completed call typical Chinese courtyard house. The 680 square metre dwelling
Jiakun, employs all types of material with care and
tional architects.’ centre to the west, the 1900 square metre building provides dining, meeting is constructed from red brick laid in striking geometric patterns. time on his side. His extraordinary Museum of
Although the courtyard is inherently rooted in and recreation facilities. Each of the three courtyards, around which the By using locally-sourced materials, construction methods and Clocks & Seals is part of Jianchuan Museum District,
scheme is planned, is themed on a key element of traditional Chinese gar- contractors, the architect was able to deliver the building at
Beijing, the format is repeated and permeates con- dens: bamboo, stone and water. Constructed from loadbearing red brick in a cost of just £65 per square metre (ph: Iwan Baan); ground and which is devoted to relics of the Cultural
temporary design throughout the country. Zhang alternate interlocking and projecting patterns, the two-storey structure recalls first floor plan. Revolution. Liu uses clear bright brick and employs
the vernacular of both public buildings and the continuous pitched roofs of Below Studio Pei-Zhu’s sensitive restoration and extension of a
Lei’s house for a poet is a clever and warm evolution classical plan forms, such as round, square and cru-
local farming villages (ph: Iwan Baan); site plan; detail section. historically significant siheyuan courtyard house in central Beijing.
of the traditional courtyard house. Only the flat roof ciform, to construct ‘holy space’, thus cultivating an
and grey double-glazed windows betray this as an atmosphere of singleness, extremeness, purity and
exquisitely modern home with stark white interiors fanaticism. He says, ‘my low-tech strategy is based on
equal to any of David Adjaye’s London houses. my early experiences of home-building in the coun-
Solidifying the building’s relationship with the land- tryside. Compared with the high-tech methods that
scape, Zhang was able to source the dusty red bricks have been used as classic architectural language in
from the nearby fields and use them for the main advanced countries, low-tech design deals with real-
structure and cladding. Three different textures of ity. It aims to use simple technology, and pays more
brick skin were used in the facade, with an interlock- attention to economic feasibility.’
ing pattern of leaves and perforation between the For Chinese architecture to move forward, creat-
bricks, creating shadows along the wall, abstract ing an identity without pastiche or nostalgia, there
shapes which form a new facade. must be a kind of hybridisation, a return to the ver-
In Jade Valley, southeast of Xi’an, University of nacular but seen through the lens of international
Southern California dean Ma Qingyun found an architectural movements. Unlike many western
indigenous brick to form the structure of his father’s societies, history has a difficult and fractured place
house. The backdrop is the Qingling mountain range, in China, and to many Chinese the historical conno-
which defines the territory with its landscape of steep tations of brickwork make it inferior to the unar-
mountains, gentle hills, river valleys and the expan- guable modernism of glass and steel. But among a
sive Middle Plateau. The Father’s House sits in an number of new, clearer-thinking architectural prac-
ambiguous location between the river (and smooth tices brick offers something quite profound. It
stones) and the mountains (and coarse stones). The allows a reflection of history and traditions to recon-
walls oscillate between dark and light hues, and nect with a long abandoned past, at the same time
rough and smooth textures. Stone, concrete and forging a contemporary Chinese architecture.
brick from nearby sources were also used by Standard
Beatrice Galilee is an architectural writer and was a curator of the
Architecture in its Niyan River vistor centre in Tibet. 2009 Shenzhen Hong Kong Bi-City Biennale of architecture.

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PRECEDENT

Sigurd Lewerentz Sigurd Lewerentz, leading Swedish modernist and partner Getting over openings A frameless window Adding doors Above Sigurd Lewerentz (1885-1975) was commis-
sioned to design the Church of St Peter (St Petri) at
with Gunnar Asplund on Stockholm’s Woodland Cemetery, When Louis Kahn asked a brick what it wanted to be, it told The former window frame manufacturer dared ask if frames Applying the same logic as in the placement of windows, a
at Klippan Church was born in 1885 but lived on until the age of 90. His last him ‘an arch’. This followed a century’s obsession about the were really necessary. The pure brick hole with bricks hang- door and its frame could be bolted to the front of brickwork,
Klippan in 1962 at the age of 77. The bricklaying was
directed by Lewerentz on site, allowing for some
improvisation as construction progressed, but models
church at Klippan, completed in 1963, is among his best- making of arches as the very basis of architecture, which ing across the top could be turned into a window by clamp- set flush within it, or set back to the inner face. Lewerentz
The final major project by the were made of the altar, pulpit and bishop’s chair before
they were built. Lewerent is reported to have been
known works: a cave-like square hall within an L-shaped parish even had a moral ring to it. Encouraged by Ruskin, Gothic ing a slightly larger pane of glass on the outside and sealing bolted the profane doors on using exposed brackets, but the
Swedish master architect is a tour very reserved when other architects turned up at site,
wing, modestly rugged, dark and unremitting. Turning away revivalists like Street and Butterfield had made arch after it with mastic. Lewerentz also used the new technology of entrance to the church is set at the back of its aperture with though he had a good rapport with master-builder
de force of inventive brickwork, from both his neoclassical and his white modernist works, arch, picked out in different colours and elaborated far the sealed double-glazing unit. From without it looks like an brick framing, and the doors of the west front are set flush. Helge Lindgren and his workmen. At the consecration
says Peter Blundell Jones. Lewerentz returned in old age to a reinterpretation of the beyond structural need. The twentieth century brought lin- applied mirror, the glass made more delicate by contrast The doors are of laminated construction so as to show the
Bishop Martin Lindström declared that ‘a renowned
architect has with all his being built here a hallowed
‘Material Realism’ of the early twentieth century. Architects tels but also steel reinforcement, but widespread use of sol- changing grain and sawn edges. Only on the inside are they room of majestic weight’.
with the rough bricks. From within it seems that nothing is Left Window and door details.
and historians have long admired the ruthless exposure of dier courses has carried on in memory of the lost arch. there, only the cheeks of the brick hole and the view beyond. sanded off flush.
materials that puts even leading Brutalists like the Smithsons Lewerentz rejected all such sentimentality and eliminated
in the shade. Brick was principal among the church’s compo- the lintel altogether, forming rectangular openings with
nent parts; a hard purple one was used for the floor, walls and identical cills and heads by concealing steel reinforcement
roof. After a lifetime immersed in the rules of good practice, within the wall. It was more like concrete than traditional
concentrating on detail, and even running a factory to pro- brickwork.
duce metal windows, Lewerentz stood the rules teasingly on
Above Gabled west front (photos: Peter Blundell Jones). their heads, both showing how differently things might be
Above right West front from across the pond; east
elevation; south-east corner. done, and changing the material’s very character.

18 • BB SUMMER 10 BB SUMMER 10 • 19
 Marking the end of the street
Dividing the parish offices from the church is an internal
street, whose axis is terminated on the main approach by a
chequerboard of bricks running horizontally then vertically,
reminiscent of infill in timber frames. The flourish is appro-
priate, and the lack of structural bond a reminder that with
steel reinforcement bricks alone do not hold the building up.

Above/right A panel of decorative stacked brickwork Holy vaults Don’t cut a brick he left it. What we call messy is perhaps accidental, incompe- Above The gabled elevation corresponds to the
marks the termination of the ‘internal street’. internal roof vaults; internal street from west.
Below The nave is conceived according to principles of Vaults have long been associated with religious buildings, Bricks are precious in Sweden, a country of timber. They tent, inconsistent, for each deliberately and skilfully applied Below Projecting chimney; office wing detail; downpipe
‘circumstantes’, the notion of a central place of worship.
creating a second sky and suspending great mass magically have to be frost-proof, moulded to a standard size, then car- kind of technique reveals a character of its own. bracket detail.
Proportions of the monumental altar are determined
by the Golden Mean. Behind the altar are the clergy- in the air, but by the mid-twentieth century they looked inap- ried from the kiln. Why smash the perfect newly-made object
bench (clerus-bänken), the bishop’s chair (catedra) and
the pulpit.
propriately archaic. Lewerentz chose the industrial form of with a trowel to expose its innards? Why go to the trouble of Don’t hide the work
shallow jack-arches, the bricks making shallow arcs within making specials for every odd corner? But regulating a whole The X-joint on Mies van der Rohe’s famous Barcelona Chair
steel beams, but he splayed the beams and lifted the centre- building to brick dimensions is enormously restrictive, pre- looks effortless but the flawless curves were only managed by
line above the supporting structure, causing the centre to cluding necessary slopes and angles. Lewerentz used only building up a huge quantity of weld around the assembled
rise apparently unsupported to a climax while the rain whole bricks, filling the sometimes large and irregular joints flats then grinding it off . Such sleight-of-hand was anathema
falling on the copper skin runs away to the edges. The vaults with mortar bulked out with ground slate. The parish social to Lewerentz, who told his welders and solderers at Klippan to
make their own rhythm, visibly breaking mere structural room chimney, shaped to draw the fire as well as to announce leave the added metal as it had bubbled up under the torch.
necessity. Only the main religious spaces are vaulted, pro- the room, pushes this technology to the limit. Work has to be carried out more carefully, as the craftsman’s
fane parts having monopitch wooden roofs. The main skill is left visible, but it is the real work. The handmade rain-
church vaults are borne by a great rusty steel cross. Throw away that bucket handle pipe brackets were made of flat pieces of copper, and are
Pointing is long and painstaking. Although it allows the brick- shown that way with no attempt to join them.
Belonging to the ground layer a signature it can also look mannered, and much trouble Lewerentz was allowed a remarkably free hand at Klippan
The church not only has a brick floor and walls but also a has to be taken not to mess up the brick surface. Lewerentz’s and spent much time on the site with the builders. A life-
brick floor. Holy water arrives in an exotic shell that serves as alternative was to overfill the joint, wipe off excess mortar with time’s knowledge of construction and of tussles with devel- Peter Blundell Jones is professor of architecture at
the University of Sheffield. His books include
a font, then drips into a fissure of the brick floor, landing in a rag, and sandblast to leave a continuous flat surface. But when oping technology resulted in a work that exploited some of
monographs on Gunnar Asplund, Hans Scharoun
a pool below, drip, drip, drip resounding in the darkness. he started to do this on an earlier building, he found that the the latest material means as well as looking back wistfully and and Häring as well as two volumes of Modern
This well is celebrated by a gentle mound of brick surface. wiped surface had qualities of its own, despite the smearing, so poetically to the age of craftsmanship. Architecture Through Case Studies.

20 • BB SUMMER 10 BB SUMMER 10 • 21
TECHNICALo

Brick diaphragm walls limited, and has the advantage of

first instance to see if its self-weight
Wall type Bricks Mortar Labour Basic cost (stability moment of resistance)
Alistair Mugford, structural appearing intrinsically robust and (no.) (m3) (man hours) (£) exceeded the applied moment. If this
engineer at TPS, considers easily integrated with the external check was not passed, the stability of
the design and advantages works. This approach was assumed in the wall would need to rely on the
the design of the case study wall, which
of freestanding brick Solid wall 15040 12.4 251 18840 flexural tensile capacity of the mortar
acts as a temporary screen between a joint at the base of the wall. A cost-
diaphragm walls. gas storage compound and a car park
Wall and piers 14040 10.4 234 17470 effective design would rely on the use
(the coping had not been installed at of a strong mortar (typically M12) and
the time the photographs were taken). bricks with a water absorption below
Diaphragm wall 8760 6.1 146 10860
The client required a solid, economic seven per cent (generally class A or B
and aesthetically pleasing wall which met engineering bricks, which will also act
Table 1 Brick, mortar and labour comparisons.
tight space requirements on either side. as a damp-proof course).
A number of other checks are
Freestanding wall options required to ensure the strength and
In order to meet the client design and to bond the cross ribs into the wall minimal over traditional wall options. stability of the wall. There should be
cost criteria a range of options were leaves, or to use steel ties to achieve Regarding ancillaries, it is assumed that discussion with the contractor before
considered at scheme design stage, this. The latter was preferred as it each method would require similar commencing the design, in order to
with a preference expressed for brick- allowed the wall leaves to be construct- quantities of wall ties, which would determine the required appearance of
work. These comprised a solid wall, a ed rapidly in stretcher bond with the form a small part of the overall cost. the brickwork. This may limit the
wall with piers and a diaphragm wall. cross ribs built unhindered in between. The use of bed-joint reinforcement choice of bricks that can be specified,
Reinforced solutions, either in mason- may be considered optional, depend- but it can enable greater economy to
ry or concrete, were held in reserve if Cost and programme savings ent on site-specific requirements. In be achieved, for example, by the use of
a thinner section became essential. An approximate cost study for the the case study, light reinforcement was perforated units in a suitable colour.
The solid wall and wall with piers were three methods is summarised in the specified for robustness and to limit
quickly sized using design software, table above. This indicates a clear pref- cracking – important given the wall’s Health, safety and the environment
External freestanding walls are often environmental benefits over other con- ing the wall to resist horizontal load and it became apparent that neither erence for the diaphragm method function and location. This also gave The planar nature of the diaphragm
constructed in brickwork for reasons of struction methods. These virtues, (primarily due to wind), while also solution would be economically viable (note that the basic cost is for prelimi- confidence in providing just one wall allows for simple scaffolding and
aesthetics, economy and ease of con- along with key design and construc- achieving almost flat faces on either for the high wind loads associated with nary comparison and does not include movement joint at mid-point for the construction. It is possible at design
struction. But achieving a cost-effective tion aspects are examined here using a side to satisfy aesthetic and space the location. The solid wall would items such as foundations, design fees, brickwork in M12 mortar, which offers stage to almost eliminate the need for
solution in masonry using traditional recent case study: a three-metre high, constraints. have been 440mm thick, while the wall scaffolding and masonry ancillaries). the greatest strength but the least half bricks, potentially reducing noise
solid wall or wall-with-piers solutions 21-metre long wall constructed as part Figures 1 and 2 are indicative and with piers would have been 215mm The additional costs are generally con- accommodation of movement. and health and safety issues arising
can be difficult for larger walls which of a major PFI hospital scheme (above). not intended to represent a final thick with 665x328mm piers at sidered comparable between each from cutting bricks on site. There are
are exposed to high wind loads. design solution. The former illustrates 1013mm centres. This contrasted with method: foundations are similar and Structural design significant material savings, principal-
Diaphragm walls, traditionally used Diaphragm wall details a deeper section with an additional a 440mm thick diaphragm wall with scaffolding would be required for all Diaphragm freestanding walls, ly in bricks, to reduce the embodied
as perimeter loadbearing elements in The diaphragm wall (figures 1 and 2), cross rib to allow for increased wind cross ribs at 1013mm centres and of them (though the wall and pier although not explicitly covered in carbon content of the wall when
facilities such as sports halls, can pro- consists of two parallel leaves of half- pressure at the wall ends. A thinner sec- section enhancements at either end. solution would require stepping). BS5628 or EC6, can be designed using selecting diaphragm walls over other
vide significant advantages in terms of brick thickness which are joined by ribs tion is proposed for the wall generally, The contractor chose the diaphragm There was a premium for the BDA guidance to these codes of prac- methods. Designers should liaise with
reducing material quantities, time at uniform centres, thereby forming a with the section enhancement only wall solution for the significant materi- diaphragm wall in terms of design and tice. A 440mm section would normally contractors to determine locally-avail-
on site and therefore cost. They also series of co-joined vertical box sections. present where it is needed. The overall al savings and buildability it provided. detailing due to its novelty – though in be considered the minimum depth, able stock, thereby reducing transport
offer potential health and safety and This provides structural depth, allow- effect on the appearance of the wall is There were two sub-options available: subsequent designs this should be and the wall would be checked in the burdens.

Figure 1 Diaphragm wall plan. Figure 2 Diaphragm wall section.

22 • BB SUMMER 10 BB SUMMER 10 • 23