Brick and block

Steve Coombs
History: ancient civilisations
History: Greek and roman
The name brick is derived from the Greek word keramos – fired earth.

Romans – introduced brick across Empire with mobile kiln.

History: 12th – 18th century
Middle Ages and lack of natural building stone developed the
brick-Gothic church building in N.Europe.

UK - Prior to industrial revolution brick was expensive to

transport further than 10miles. Local materials and local
kilns.
History: 19th century
History: Building tall
History: arts and crafts
History: volume housebuilders
module: nominal size
Brick Block

3H + 20
L
d H
be
he her
ad tc
er s tre

T L
2L + 10
T
 module: nominal size
Brick Block

215
d 65
be
he her
ad tc
er s tre

102.5 215
440
100

L = 203 – 250 mm L = 390, 440, 590 & 610 mm

H = 50 – 76 mm H = 140, 190, 215 & 290 mm
W = 102 – 120 mm W = 75, 100, 115, 140, 150 & 215 mm
module: coordinated size

10
75 65

112.5 225 215 10

½ brick 1 brick 1 ½ brick

102.5 215 327.5

Module: types
Solid, frogs, perforated, cellular, keyed, insulated
Module: shapes

Feature quoin Flat single bullnose Double cant

Single cant Double bullnose Plinth stretcher

Single bullnose Corbel pedestal Wave coping end stop

Squint Plinth corner Plinth internal corner

Material

Bricks Blocks

• Clay (95%) • Clay (0%)

• Calcium silicate (1%) • Concrete (100%)

- Dense
• Concrete (4%) - Lightweight
- Aerated
Raw material: Clay
Clay, marl and mudstone with silica and alumina with impurities: iron,
magnesia, potash, sodium or sulphur
Raw material: calcium silicate
Sand, flint, quartz, (quick)lime, water
Raw material: concrete

Cement, sand, water Dense concrete aggregates: Light aggregates: clinker, Aerated concrete: quartz,
hard sandstone and blast furnace slag, lime/ cement, aluminium
limestone, basalt, gravel, expanded clay, pumice, powder
granite PFA (pulverised fuel-ash),
vermiculite, perlite
Manufacturing: clay (fired)
Manufacturing: clay (fired)
Video?
Manufacturing: clay (unfired)
Manufacturing: calcium silicate
Manufacturing: concrete
Manufacturing: aerated concrete
Embodied energy

• Fired clay bricks are responsible for

the greater of environmental impacts
amongst bricks.

• Emissions include sulphur dioxide,

hydrogen fluoride and hydrogen
chloride.

• The other major impact is the

degradation of the landscape
resulting from the extraction of raw
materials.
Appearance: colour and texture
Properties: strength
Properties: strength
Properties: movement
Properties: thermal
Properties: water, salt and frost
Properties: using
HSE Guidance on the one person repetitive handling of masonry units is that
such units should not exceed 20 kg in mass. This ruling effectively only
applies to Concrete Blocks and Autoclaved Aerated Blocks. Units above 20
kg should be handled mechanically or non repetitively, or by more than one
person.

Cutting clay blocks

Nailing into clay low density bricks and blocks

Detailing: masonry bonding

English cross bond

Stretcher bond Flemish bond

Header bond Monk, Yorkshire bond

English bond Dutch bond

Detailing: mortar joints

Weathered Struck Raked Concave

‘V’ Flush Extruded

Detailing: joints
Detailing: arches
Case studies
‘What does a brick want to be?’

Louis Kahn
Rafael moneo
Roman art museum, Merida
Bearth & deplazes
Gallery in Marktoberdorf
Lewerentz
Bibliography/ reading list

Materials 5th edition, Mitchell’s Building Series, Alan Everett

Chapters 6&7

Basics: Masonry Construction, Nils Kummer

Constructing Architecture: materials, processes, structures, Andrea Deplazes

Chapter Masonry

Construction Materials Manual, Hegger, Auch-swelk, Fuchs, Rosenkranz

The Ecology of Building Materials second edition, Bjorn Berge

appendix
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