The 40-apartment block (above), which has been constructed using Alpha timber frame panels, has been faced with Bristol-based EuroBrick's brick slip system.
"The four storeys were too high structurally for an external brick skin," says Simon Luty of the executive architect Frankl and Luty. "There would have been movement all over the place. The brick slip masonry is not part of the structural calculation - it's purely an add-on." The added benefit, says Luty, is that speed of build isn't constrained by how fast you can build a brick wall. "With brick slips you can clad the wall at your leisure," he says.
Other advantages cited by Richard Haines, general manager of EuroBrick, is that brick slips require less foundations and are easy to install.
As with many prefabricated structures the planners insisted that Goldcrest's external envelope had a brick appearance to blend in with surrounding buildings. Planning architect Michael Sierens Associates specified Chelwood's Cambridge Buff bricks, which were cut into slips.
In future Luty says he would use manufactured extruded brick slips, which are cheaper and create less material wastage. "The tolerance of cutting the bricks is below that which the system offers," he says. The consistency of the thickness of brick is vital, he adds, as even if you're only a millimetre out the brick will protrude further than the others.
EuroBrick's Haines agrees that using cut bricks is dimensionally critical but says that EuroBrick's cutting companies cut bricks to a high accuracy. "And if they're not good enough, we reject them," he says. Cut bricks also give clients an unlimited choice of brick although it is more costly.
EuroBrick's range of cheaper extruded brick slips will meet most planning requirements, says Haines. The one drawback is that they can look more manufactured than cut bricks.
EuroBrick's insulated brick cladding can be used with traditional, frame or modular systems. It also provides non-standard shapes for more intricate designs.
"The brick slips didn't inhibit the design," says Luty. "For instance, we used pistol bricks to achieve 100 mm window reveals. It's flexible - you can use it to build Victorian and Georgian-style housing if you wish," he says.
EuroBrick's Haines says he's in talks with a number of UK homebuilders about using brick slips. In Wales one developer is considering using the system on 500 units.
Source
Building Homes
