Detail Post: Brick Bonds and Patterns

Brick is one of the most common materials used in architecture. It’s inexpensive, durable and versatile. The brick detail can be an important feature to pay attention to when designing a building, due to the wide range of styles available. Here we will explore the different types of brick detailing and show you a multitude of examples of architectural projects that have been creative with their brick detailing.

Bricks are a modular building material and come in a huge range of colours, finishes, textures, sizes and types.

Brick is still a popular building material for modern construction to its bricks longevity and connection to the existing building fabric. The following is an introductory guide to detailing bricks, looking at bonds, patterns, finishes and setting out.

Brick Bonds

Designers and architects are experimenting once again with this material. They are pushing the boundaries with modern brick patterns and techniques, to provide cost effective and attractive exteriors to buildings. The following are just a few of the most common brick bonds.

Stretcher

dRMM’s Trafalgar Place is a great example of the ingenious use of brickwork. They created a pallet of brickwork from standard facing bricks to tie the building into its surrounding context.

Header Stretcher Bond

Caruso St. John uses a bold form for and a mixture of colours and bonds to create a separation between the street level in a dark header stretched bond and the top of the building, in a more traditional buff Flemish bond.

Flemish Bond

Flemish brick bond is a very common brick bond, especially within historic residential buildings in London. It is sometimes used in modern buildings to connect it with these historic surroundings.

English Bond

This brick bond is typically seen within historic buildings and is quite similar to the Flemish although less common. (pictured below Neues Museum – David Chipperfield Architects)

Herringbone

The Herringbone house is named after the bold brick bond it uses. As it is not possible to set out windows to this strange bond, the architects used a header detail around windows, doors and tops of walls. (pictured below Herringbone House by Atelier Chanchan.)

Brick Patterns

Once you have chosen your brick bond, you can play around with the patterns and depth. Below are some examples of how to do this, including protruding hit and miss brickwork, corbelling and protruding bricks. As well as all the examples shown, twisting brickwork, brick slips or using special shaped bricks can also add depth to a façade.

Protruding Brickwork

Protruding brickwork is a low cost way of adding depth to a façade. With the same or even different colored bricks, a pattern can be highlighted by pulling it either further out or into the façade. This adds further texture and shadows to a flat façade.

House in Aggstall | Hild und K Architekten

Corbelling

The Corbelled Brick Extension – YARD Architects

Corbelling is traditionally seen in brick parapets to define the top of a wall and add further depth. Traditional structural corbelling can still be achieved with the simple rules that

1. That the total overhang cannot exceed 1/3 of the wall depth (total wall depth ÷ 3, T/3).
2. Each corbel much not exceed 25.4cm (1 inch).

However, more complicated corbelling can be achieved using precast brick panels, brick slips and other structural solutions. For example, Maccreanor Lavington uses precast panels with the structural corbelled brickwork integrated into the concrete panel so each piece can be craned into place.

(Image below Maccreanor Lavington – Bloomsbury Student Hall of Residence)

Hit and Miss Brickwork

Hit and miss brickwork has traditionally been used in garden walls to allow light and air to permeate. More modern examples can be seen in front of glazing to create a screen effect. It is key to speak to the manufacture when using this type of brickwork as it is more exposed to the elements and therefore not all bricks will be suitable. High water resistant solid brickwork is always recommended as bricks with frogs and holes will allow too much water ingress.

Pictured below Waterloo Lane Mews – Grafton Architects

Brick Mortar Joints

The mortar joint in brickwork is a key part of a brickwork wall, helping to join the brickwork together structurally and keeping the rain and elements out of the interior. There are many ways of specifying the mortar joint for your brickwork. The colour, for example, can make a huge difference on the appearance of the wall. The joint profile also changes how the brickwork creates a shadow and depth.

Below are some of the most common types of mortar joint:

Recessed Joint

Piercy and Company Hufton Crow – Turnmill

Rosyln Road – Magri Williams Architects

This post was originally featured on Detail Library – to read the full and complete post head over to Detail Library. 

Image Credits

For more stunning photos of the projects featured in this article please visit the architects websites by following the links below.

Trafalgar Place by dRMM

https://drmm.co.uk/project/trafalgar-place/

Newport Street Gallery by Caruso St John

https://carusostjohn.com/projects/newport-street-gallery/

Neues Museum by David Chipperfield Architects

https://davidchipperfield.com/project/neues_museum

Herringbone House by Atelier Chanchan

https://www.archdaily.com/489955/the-herringbone-house-atelier-chanchan

Silchester Housing by Haworth Tompkins

https://www.haworthtompkins.com/work/silchester-housing

Horsted Park by Proctor and Matthews Architects

https://www.proctorandmatthews.com/project/horsted-park-kent

House in Aggstall by Hild und K Architekten

https://archello.com/project/house-in-aggstall

The Corbelled Brick Extension by YARD Architects

https://yardarchitects.co.uk/the-corbelled-brick-extension

Bloomsbury Student Halls by Maccreanor Lavington

https://www.maccreanorlavington.com/work/detail/garden-halls/

Waterloo Lane Mews by Grafton Architects

https://www.graftonarchitects.ie/Waterloo-Lane-Mews-Dublin

TDO House by TDO

https://www.tdoarchitecture.com/old-church-street/nd82izqms5ubso0ffojj8pxp286rrh

Kew House by Mclaren Excell

http://mclarenexcell.com/archive-project/kew/

Turnmill by Piercy and Company

https://www.piercyandco.com/projects/view/turnmill

Rosyln Road by Magri Williams Architects

https://magriwilliams.co.uk/our-work/roslyn-road