BB Autumn 2009

Marlies Rohmer’s multi-ethnic Amsterdam mosque

Local and aesthetic: Sergison Bates profiled

Bending rules: Goetz Hootz Castorph in Munich

PV Jensen-Klint’s Gruntvig Church in Copenhagen

AHMM in Barking, Bauman Lyons in Lincoln

The pros and cons of thin-joint mortarsAUTUMN 2009

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Familiar valuesWith an increasing workloadabroad, Sergison Bates isextending its exploration ofbrick construction. Interviewedby Graham Bizley, the partnerssuggest its everyday familiaritycan act as a spur to invention.The approach reflects that ofDanish architect PV Jensen-Klint, who almost a centuryago conceived a great brickmasterpiece – Copenhagen’sGruntvig Church.

Jayne Rolfe

To find out more about the bricks or paversin featured projects, or to submit work, [email protected] or phone 020 7323 7030.

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Contents4 NEWS

Projects from Lambeth to York; plusRW Brunskill’s Brick Building updated

6 PROJECTSA community mosque in Amsterdamby Marlies Romer, Bauman Lyons inLincoln, AHMM’s Barking housing,Goetz Hootz Castorph in Munich

12 PROFILEGraham Bizley talks bricks, mortar andbuilding local with Sergison Bates

18 PRECEDENTThomas Bo Jensen explores the brickcrypt in PV Jensen-Klint’s celebratedGruntvig Church in Copenhagen

22 TECHNICALThin-joint mortar systems explained

Brick Bulletin Autumn 2009Executive editor: Jayne Rolfet: 020 7323 7030 e: [email protected] Development Association, The BuildingCentre, 26 Store Street, London, WC1E 7BT

The BDA represents manufacturers of claybrick and pavers in the UK and Ireland andpromotes excellence in the architectural,structural and landscape applications of brickand pavers. The BDA provides practical,technical and aesthetic advice and informationthrough its website www.brick.org.uk, in itsnumerous publications and over the phone.

Published by the BDA ©2009 Editorial and design: Architecture Today plc

FrontispieceGruntvig Church inCopenhagen, 1913-1940,by Peder Vilhelm Jensen-Klint. Photo: Ole Meyer.CoverMarlies Rohmer’s multi-mosque in Amsterdam isshared by the Turkish andMoroccan communities.Photo: Marcel van derBurg.Back coverRecycled bricks in thefacade of NingboHistoric Museum, China,by Wang Shu. Photo: Iwan Baan.

BDA member companiesBlockleys Brick t +44 (0)1952 251933 www.michelmersh.comBovingdon Brickworks t +44 (0)1442 833176 www.bovingdonbricks.co.ukBroadmoor Brickworks t +44 (0)1594 822255 [email protected] Brick & Tile Co t +44 (0)1787 269 232 [email protected] Traditional Brick t +44 (0)1501 730671 www.caradale.co.ukCarlton Brick t +44 (0)1226 711521 www.carltonbrick.co.ukCharnwood Forest Brick t +44 (0)1509 503203 www.michelmersh.comChartwell Brickworks t +44 (0)1732 463712 www.chartwellbrickworks.comColeford Brick & Tile t +44 (0)1594 822160 www.colefordbrick.co.ukDunton Brothers t +44 (0)1494 772111 www.michelmersh.comFreshfield Lane Brickworks t +44 (0)1825 790350 www.flb.uk.comFurness Brick & Tile Co t +44 (0)1229 462411 www.furnessbrick.comHanson UK t +44 (0)870 609 7092 www.hanson.com/ukHG Matthews t +44 (0)1494 758212 www.hgmatthews.comIbstock Brick t +44 (0)1530 261999 www.ibstock.co.ukLagan Brick t +353 (0)42 9667317 www.laganbrick.comMichelmersh Brick & Tile t +44 (0)1794 368506 www.michelmersh.comNormanton Brick t +44 (0)1924 892142Northcot Brick t +44 (0)1386 700551 www.northcotbrick.co.ukOrmonde Brick t +353 (0)56 4441323 www.ormondebrick.iePhoenix Brick Company t +44 (0)1246 471576 www.bricksfromphoenix.co.ukWm C Reade of Aldeburgh t +44 (0)1728 452982 [email protected] Brick Co t +44 (0)1665 574229 [email protected] Brick & Tile t +44 (0)1420 488489 www.towerbrickandtile.co.ukTyrone Brick t +44 (0)28 8772 3421 www.tyrone-brick.comThe York Handmade Brick Co t +44 (0)1347 838881 www.yorkhandmade.co.ukWH Collier t +44 (0)1206 210301 www.whcollier.co.ukWienerberger t +44 (0)161 4918200 www.wienerberger.co.uk

BRICK BULLETIN AUTUMN 09


NEWS

Panter Hudspith in York

Panter Hudspith Architects has designed afive storey, 6200 square metre office build-ing in the centre of York. The CarmeliteStreet development will occupy a prominentlocation on the new St John’s Square, partof the Hungate regeneration scheme.

Intended to achieve a BREEAM Excellentrating, the design features high levels ofthermal mass, geothermal piles and anextensive biodiverse green roof. Externally,a series of reconstituted stone ‘light shelves’and prefabricated brick vertical fins provideprotection from solar gain, while ensuringgood levels of natural lighting for the floor

Action stations at Rayleigh Weir

Due to complete on site shortly, RayleighWeir is an eco-friendly fire station designedby Hunters. The £4m scheme comprises asingle-storey, four-bay garage, a trainingtower and a two-storey administration/accommodation block. Among the green

Brick Awards shortlist announced

The Brick Awards shortlist has beenannounced by a judging panel chaired byBob Allies of Allies & Morrison. There are14 awards split into three categories: hous-ing, building and landscape, and technicaland craft. This year, an additional category

Buschow Henley in Lambeth

Buschow Henley has obtained detailed planning consent for a £13m primary carecentre in Lambeth, south London. The 80 metre long Akerman Road PCC will include four GP surgeries, dentistry, midwifery and community health facilities.Located in Myatts Field, the surrounding

Brick and clay building in Britain

A new edition of RW Brunskill’s widelypraised Brick Building in Britain has beenpublished by Yale University Press. Thebook has been expanded to include a summary of the use of clay, mud bricks andturf as predecessors and companions toburnt brick. Re-titled Brick and ClayBuilding in Britain, the new edition is divided into five sections. Part one gives an account of how bricks, brick tiles and terracotta have been made and used frommedieval times to the present day. Part twoprovides an illustrated glossary of brickwork.Part three, the chronological survey, comprises photographs and detailed notesof brick buildings from early survivors to

CAFOD headquarters unveiled

Black Architecture has used yellow stockbricks to carefully control the facades of itsCatholic Agency for Overseas Development(CAFOD) headquarters building, currentlyon site in Southwark, south London. Themasonry is expressed as a surface skin withall cills, reveals and panel edges closed with

zinc-finished insulated cavity barriers andlinings. The castellated fenestration patternincludes lines of ribbon windows on theupper levels, which allow natural light intothe heart of the plan. Larger windows inter-rupt the ribbon glazing, framing views ofPugin’s St George’s Cathedral, located oppo-site. Black mortar will emphasise the textureand colour variations in the brickwork.

buildings are largely of brick and date fromthe nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The centre takes its form from the massingof a nearby church and the order of a flat-fronted London terrace. A decoratedCorten frieze with deep-set ‘shop’ windowsforms the base of the building. Above, whitebrickwork extends two storeys to a precastconcrete parapet. The masonry is continuedto third floor level in the centre of thenorth and south gables, and at a crossingabove the east and west entrances. Thefacades are punctuated by vertical bronzeanodised aluminium windows. A texturedbrick with a handmade appearance hasbeen specified to counter the monumentalaspects of the design. The mortar will matchthe brickwork and be flush pointed.

38 Kingsland Road London E2 8DDT E-mail: [email protected]

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match brick work3 Natura rainscreen cladding panels, colour Olive Green4 Powder Coated Aluminium coping, colour to match rainscreen cladding5 Corten perforated panel6 Fairfaced relief-patterned concrete7 adjacent rainscreen cladding8 Corten reveal/head/cill9 Warm anodised Aluminium windows

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the brickwork of recent years. Part four provides a useful introduction to the use of unbaked earth in its various techniquesand different locations. Last but not least,part five covers the Brick Tax, cavity wallingand damp proof courses, the use of theHeader Bond in brickwork, and a noteabout brickwork in Scotland and Ireland(Yale University Press, 262pp £30).

plates. The Carmelite Street facade comprises prefabricated brick panels withfloor-to-ceiling windows and a continuousclerestorey above. Brick construction waschosen to reflect the brick warehouses thatformerly occupied the site and those whichremain across the River Foss. Brick was also chosen for its durability and flexibility.

has been created – best educational build-ing. There is one overall winner: The BDABuilding of the Year – Supreme Award,which goes to the project judged to be thefinest from all categories. Shortlisted entriesinclude Vassall Road apartments in Londonby Tony Fretton Architects (left, photo:Peter Cook) for the best private housingdevelopment, and Wright & Wright’s HullTruck Theatre (below) for the best publicbuilding. The full list can be seen on theBDA website. The awards will be presented on 4 November at London’s MarriottGrosvenor Square Hotel. For tables andtickets contact Lucy Bond on 07958 755921or [email protected](details: www.brick.org.uk).

technologies featured in the design are ageothermal heating system, solar thermalwater heating and a planned wind turbineexpected to generate 8900kWh of energyper year. Smooth blue engineering brickswere chosen for the facades to reflect thereliability and solidity of the fire service, aswell as for functional reasons including

durability and longevity. Angled parapetlines give the brickwork a dynamic appear-ance while using minimal special bricks. Theheavy appearance and dark colour of themasonry contrasts with two interlockingwhite- rendered volumes. The two materials combine to express the different structuraland functional elements of the building.

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Pattern languages

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Credits Architect: Architectenbureau Marlies Rohmer;design team: Marlies Rohmer, Floris Hund, KierstenGabriëls, Gieneke Pieterse, Boris Briels, Pepijn Nolet;structural engineering: Amsterdams Bouwadviesbureau;client: Stadsdeel Amsterdam Oost Watergraafsmeer;photos: Marlies Rohmer (above, opposite and left),Marcel van der Burg (below left), Luuk Kramer (below).

PROJECTS

Transvaalbuurt is a district on the east side ofAmsterdam with large resident communitiesof Moroccan and Turkish origins. At itsheart, local practice ArchitectenbureauMarlies Rohmer has built a mosque with twoprayer halls, offices and classrooms.The 1370 square metre, 1.7m euro ‘multi-

mosque’ was the outcome of intensive com-munity consultation, in contrast to othersuch plans in the Netherlands that have beendogged by disputes. These typically concernthe siting, the programme, the size, the visi-ble building materials and, above all, theovertly ‘Islamic’ character of the architec-ture. A major issue is almost invariably theinclusion of a conspicuous dome or minaret. In recent years the Netherlands’ one mil-

lion-strong Muslim community has estab-lished more than 450 mosques, but most ofthese are inconspicuously housed in formerschools, churches or office buildings. Withthe newly-built mosques, moreover, innova-tion tends to be limited to the use of charac-teristic Dutch building materials to dress avocabulary quoted literally from Islamicprecedents with little real understanding.

The masterplan of Transvaalbuurt wasdesigned by the architect HP Berlage in theearly 1920s and the new community centreadopts the building lines of the characteristicperimeter block. The facade has classical tri-partite proportions, with a single-storey cor-nice ornamented with brickwork ‘rosettes’.The architecture of the Amsterdam Schooland of Islam share a robust massing com-bined with ornamentation and bothinformed the design. The facade is variedwith panels of brickwork, large and smallwindows, and areas of filigree masonry. Theperforate screens of brick help establish arelation between the prayer halls and thestreet while respecting the privacy of wor-shippers. The facade culminates in a wideoriel window to the shared classrooms thatliterally unites the two communities.There are separate prayer spaces for the

Turkish and Moroccan congregations, andfor men and women, but everyone enters bythe same doorway. A staircase rises from thecentral lobby to the women’s prayer space. The square in front of the building rein-

forces the public character of the mosque

and is marked with games courts. The gar-den at the rear adjoins the prayer halls andserves as a meeting place. The ground-floorprayer halls have double-height ceilings andindividual internal entrances. The orienta-tion of the prayer halls corresponds to thesite, yet is coincidentally aligned almostexactly towards Mecca. The space between

the two prayer halls and the central mainentrance contains ancillary functions such aswashrooms and smaller offices. Above themis a mezzanine with prayer spaces for women.The second floor contains classrooms, andthe third floor houses an employment cen-tre. All the spaces are joined by a single four-storey high central staircase.

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Marlies Rohmer’s multiculturalmosque in Amsterdam responds toboth local and Muslim traditions.

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The second phase of this major east Londonregeneration project is nearing completion.Barking Central I included a new libraryframed by a colonnade and topped by twoparallel housing blocks. Phase II completes anarchitectural ensemble grouped either side ofa compact woodland or Arboretum. To thewest and north are four of the new buildings,and one further residential block on AxeStreet to the east of Phase I. The buildingsinclude an 18-storey residential tower, a four-storey glass-clad office building and a nine-storey brick-clad residential building. The lat-ter, Building 2 (shown), is clad in profiledbrick, providing a textured background to thecoloured balconies. The tower, Building 3, isclad in smooth brick and punctured to formbalcony recesses. The composition of the win-dows and balcony recesses provides a verticalemphasis. The recesses incorporate colour toarticulate the puncture by the balconies of thebrick skin. The balconies and windowsemerge through the brick facade at the top ofthe tower (photos: Rob Parrish).

Barking Central II Lincoln linearity

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The Terrace Creative Industries Workspacesis an initiative by Lincoln Council to provideworkshops for trades such as jewellers, violinmakers, plus artists studios and digital andcreative media office spaces. Respecting themedieval street pattern, Bauman Lyons’building comprises three narrow gabledblocks which draw on local precedent, butrefined to avoid overhanging eaves and gut-ters. An elevated glazed bridge creates anaxis of circulation at upper levels while allow-ing permeability of the alleyways between.Generally stone is used on Lincoln’s civic

buildings and brick on domestic and privatebuildings. As the building is neither civic norprivate, the architectural language respects acontextual hierarchy while proposing newmaterials which reflect changing technolo-gies and a sustainable agenda. The primarymaterial is a thrown gault brick which alludesto both local brickwork and to the sandstoneof the nearby museum and cathedral. Atground level the brickwork is inset with lime-stone blocks, gathered around points ofactivity on the facade and entrances, whichdecreases in density as one moves away fromthe main frontage. The brickwork forms theplinth to all three buildings creating textureto the ground floor (photos: MartineHamilton-Knight).

Ijberg eco-house by Marc Koehler

The brick walls of this 140 square metre housein Amsterdam’s Ijburg suburb will eventuallybe hidden by planting. The facades, inspiredby 1920s Amsterdam School architecture, pro-vide a substrate for climbing plants; flowerpotsare also integrated at various levels. In time,hedra, Kiwis, grapes, apples and roses willenvelop the house, providing natural shadingand privacy and an ecosystem for birds andinsects. Inside, closed private spaces contrastwith open family spaces. Three bedrooms, abathroom, wc and a multi-purpose space arelocated on the ground floor while the firstfloor remains open for living, cooking andeating. The house features a ground-sourceheat pump, solar panels and heat recovery(photos: Marcel van der Burg).

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Workspaces by Bauman Lyonsrespond to the city’s historic streetpatterns and building traditions.

Brick provides a foil to AHMM’sbrightly-coloured balconies.

1 ppc aluminium coping2 clay facing bricks, s/s supports3 reinforced concrete upstand4 SFS system with cement board5 fire stop6 metal/timber door frame7 galvanised steel balustrade8 galvanised support frame9 cement board soffit with lighting10 ppc curtain walling11granite paving

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Located south of Munich, this stark cubic vol-ume of red brick adds a unorthodox accentto its characteristically comfortable suburbanneighbourhood. The design of House H, bylocal architect Goetz Hootz Castorph, devel-ops a number of different aspects – from thestreet it looks like a typical pitched-roofed vol-ume, but from the garden the mannerist playof perspectival distortion is revealed, wherebya long wing reaches out into the depth of thesite. As a result the house seems to take on adifferent character from every angle. Thestrongly sculptural form is generated by com-bining different typologies. While the build-ing shape can be regarded as a hybrid of aNew England pitched-roof ‘saltbox’ and ageneric 1960s bungalow, the plan derives

Deceptive bends

Tilburg tower

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Credits Architect: Goetz Hootz Castorph Architektenund Stadtplaner; assistants: Wolfgang Gasde, RobertTeichmann; structural engineer: Cordula Cherubim-Riedel; landscape architect: Vogt Landschaftsplaner;services engineer: Kurt Güttinger Ingenieur; photos:Michael Heinrich (exteriors), GHC (interior).

PROJECTS

from the client’s request for an enfilade ofsimilar rooms. The facades comprise only two materials –

windows and other elements are in dark-greyaluminum and walls are in red brick. Theabsence of architraves make clear that thebrick is not loadbearing while, at the sametime, classical brick detailing is employed. Thewarm colour of the brick reflects the differentweather and light situations. The roof incor-porates solar collectors for heat and electricityand heating is by a wood-pellet boiler.

The Pieter Vreedeplein – IJzerstraat residen-tial development by Bedaux de BrouwerArchitecten mediates between a new shop-ping mall and the characteristic grey brickhouses of Tilburg, The Netherlands. The 34metre tower, just 8x16 metres in plan, con-tains a shop and four double-height apart-ments. The anthracite-coloured brick isemployed in rainscreen panels set in front ofinsulation and the structure. Particular atten-tion was given to the brick detailing – the col-lar joints are mortarless and the heads of thebricks abut each other, while raked mortarjoints emphasise horizontality in the facades(photos: Luuk Kramer).

Goetz Hootz Castorph subvertsconventions in a Munich suburb

Sergison Bates’ studio sits perched amongst therooftops overlooking the nineteenth and twentiethcentury speculative development of London’s WestEnd. The buildings outside are unremarkable, but forJonathan Sergison, Stephen Bates and third partnerMark Tuff these ordinary urban conditions have pro-vided a rich vein of inspiration.

“We constantly walk through this city with our eyesopen, receptive to the lessons we get by looking atwhat’s around us”, Sergison tells me. Rather thanimporting exotic forms or materials, their approachattempts to tease out and intensify local conditions tomake responses that are relevant to a particular place.“We find that by referring to existing things”, he con-tinues, “our ideas have some grounding over andagainst the inescapable subjectivity of the creative act.”

Living and working in London one is constantlyaware of the presence of brick, in particular the rough-pointed, dirty yellow stock bricks from which themajority of Georgian and Victorian housing was built.The image of brick is embedded in the cultural mem-ory. In their writing Sergison and Bates suggest thatthe way brick is used has the capability to communicate

Having made its name as a practice interested in the local and the everyday,says Graham Bizley, Sergison Bates ismoving into Europe and beyond, where a common experience of brick constructionprovides a cross-cultural point of contact.


PROFILEo very directly and intensely with human emotion.Sergison recounts hearing his four-year-old daughtertalking about brick: “She says you take clay from theground, put it in a cast, then heat it up and you canhold it in your hand. Of course she heard this fromme, but she remembers it. There’s something reallystraightforward about that understanding that I thinkis wonderful. It is the stuff of the ground.”

Despite its grounding in the gritty, chaotic fabric ofLondon, the work of the practice exhibits a rigour andmaterial quality seldom found in recent British archi-tecture, and an increasing proportion of its workloadis abroad, with projects in Portugal and Spain (whereBates worked in the early 1990s), two buildings on sitein Belgium and another about to break ground inSwitzerland. There the culture is receptive to themeticulous way Sergison Bates makes architecture butthe work maintains a controlled looseness that comesfrom vernacular building and is also very British.“There’s enough common ground but there arethings we do that they find baffling”, Sergison admits.

Sergison and Bates acknowledge a great debt toAlison and Peter Smithson. In their writing the

Portraits Clockwise from top: Stephen Bates, Mark Tuff, Jonathan Sergison (ph: Paul Duke).Above left Studio house in Bethnal Green, London (ph: Ioana Marinescu). Above right Three flats on Shepherdess Walk, London (ph: Ioana Marinescu). Left Private residence in Islington, London (ph: Hélène Binet).

Smithsons were never afraid to trust their own obser-vations. They did not try to create manifestos or intel-lectualise architecture, but rather endeavouredthrough careful observation to understand the builtenvironment better, and share ideas that might beuseful in the design process. For Sergison and Batesthe combination of writing and teaching with practice(Bates is a professor at the Technische Universität inMunich while Sergison is a professor at theAccademia di Architettura in Mendrisio, Switzerland)allows them to develop a theoretical and ethical basisfor their work in the belief that “buildings shouldemerge from conscious and artistic ideas as much asprogrammatic rationale.”

When Sergison Bates was established in 1996,Britain was emerging from a recession. Modernismwas being slowly rehabilitated by architects such asDavid Chipperfield, building up trust using friendlymaterials such as hardwood and stone in light-flooded,

thin veneer of cement fibre slates and brick slips,Sergison Bates has sought to find a suitable imagefor housing using timber-frame construction with arainscreen cladding. Three flats on ShepherdessWalk, east London (2002), have an outer skin ofbrown-black brick with flush mortar joints pigmented to match the brick, relating to but notmatching the dirty yellow stock bricks of the neigh-bouring terrace. The ground floor street facade isclad in light-coloured calcium silicate bricks reflecting


Top left Urban housing in Finsbury Park, London (ph: Stefan Müller).Left Competition entry for the relocation of the University for Art andDesign in the Dreispitz industrial sector of Basel (ph: David Grandorge).Above Bornholm Cultural History Museum competition entry.Right Suburban housing in Walthamstow, east London, featuring grey facingbricks used in a stretcher bond. The £0.9m 670 square metre project forFullson Properties comprises eight apartments (ph: David Grandorge).

the rendered treatment of the lower floor of the adja-cent houses. A grid of open perpends increases venti-lation in the cavity as part of a breathing wall strategy.A common idea in Sergison Bates’ work is the expres-sion of the difference in the internal and externalexperiences of the building. This was first madeexplicit in the Shepherdess Walk housing where thebrick facade is conceived as a ‘weighty overcoat’ to thetimber shell. In the entrance porch a plywood ele-ment peeks out past the brickwork, hinting at what isgoing on behind.

For a studio house on a narrow site in BethnalGreen, east London (2004), the long party walls havea blank single skin of brick. On its narrower street ele-vation a complex, layered facade of reflective glass,steel and timber-framed windows, mesh and brickpartially reveals the timber frame behind. The bricksare thin slips, the thickness of which is visible at thecorners. A mortar slurry has been applied to all thebrickwork, subsuming the identity of the individualbricks in the mass of the wall.

In all these cases brick is used as a secondary ele-ment to stimulate emotion or lend associations to thebuilding rather than to hold it up. The character ofthe surface is more important than its mass or an

honest expression of construction. This first period ofSergison Bates’ work can be seen as an exploration ofthe possibilities of the construction industry. At timesthe practice has had to adapt its methods to the com-mercial environment, but its approach is also a chal-lenge to the industry to aspire higher.

In 2004 Sergison Bates entered a competition forthe Cultural History Museum on the Danish island ofBornholm which was to prove something of a shiftaway from the lightweight construction they hadexplored previously. “We wanted to understand brickin a more Kahnian sense”, explains Sergison, “a moreprimitive understanding, where weight and massbecome the thing that’s felt in the atmosphere, or theexperience of the building.” The architects proposed

open spaces. In this context Sergison Bates’ early builtwork represented a radically different approach,using vernacular references and ordinary buildingmaterials employed in unexpected ways. A publichouse on the quayside in Walsall (1998) has dark tileand brick walls with an asymmetric, shallow pitchedroof – its form and materials chosen to evoke familiarassociations and tie the new building into its context.

Through several projects beginning with a pair ofsemi-detached houses in Stevenage (2000) clad in a

a double-skin construction of loadbearing brick wallsand vaulted, brick-ballasted roofs. The brick was tohave been slurried to give an overall monolithicappearance where the bricks become more likeaggregate in a conglomerate structure.

Three subsequent London housing projectsexplore the possibilities of a more heavyweight brickarchitecture within the confines of the British


construction industry. The first is a development of 44affordable apartments overlooking Finsbury Park(2008), divided into three distinct buildings to reflectthe scale of an adjacent pub and Victorian villas. Theburnt brick face of each villa is divided by strong hor-izontal concrete bands, cast in-situ into the outer leafof the cavity walls. The bands relate to string courseson the neighbouring buildings and bind the three villas into a larger whole.

For a development of 55 mixed-tenure apartmentsin Canning Town (2009) an appropriate level ofambition had to be established for a design & buildcontract. The dominant material is brick divided intocarefully set out piers and recessed panels which arerendered where they contain a window. This robuststrategy does not then rely on the size of the window

to maintain the proportions of the facade and impliesa layered construction of shifted planes on a simple cavity wall.

The client for a small three-storey building of eightprivate apartments in Walthamstow (2007) was a goodbuilder specialising in restoring historic buildings.The use of brick was fundamental to the project, part-ly to satisfy planning demands but also to utilise thecontractor’s considerable skills. Edwardian mixedgrey facing bricks were used in a stretcher bond, cho-sen for their stock-like quality and their stone/greypatina. Rendered architraves exaggerate the scale andproportion of the windows, suggesting a larger void-to-solid ratio. The tonal match between the naturalmortar, brick, window frames and render gives ahomogeneity and wholeness to the composition.

Meanwhile in Belgium Sergison Bates has beenable to engage with a different construction industry,in which bricks of a variety of sizes are commonlyused. Two buildings – a home for senior citizens inHuise and a new city library in Blankenberge – usestrong horizontal measures supported by brick piersin a similar way to the Finsbury Park housing but eachdevelops the idea in a different way.

The Blankenberge library will occupy a nineteenthcentury former school with tall, interconnected book-lined rooms intended to be introverted and comfort-able. A new extension wrapped around three sides ofthe existing building will contain contrasting roomswhich are more open with views out to the town.Sergison describes the project as a negotiationbetween old and new: “We were always asking the

existing building what it wants to be in its new life”, he says. The elevations explore the idea of slippagebetween an outer skin of brick and concrete with aninner lining of aluminium panels and windows. Thepiers vary in width to suit the spaces behind and aremade from whole 240mm-wide bricks laid in Englishbond. The extension has three floors while the exist-ing building only has two. The concrete bands do notline up with the new floor levels but rather are used tomediate visually between the levels and the stonebanding on the existing building.

For the senior citizens’ home in Huise the archi-tects sought a purer expression of the mass of thebrick piers. To break the rhythm of the brickwork theperpends have been set out to mis-align, blurring thesense of the pier as an assembly of elements. Sergison

Graham Bizley is a director of Prewett Bizley Architects.

BIBLIOTHEEK

JEUGD

Aluminium / hout raam Geperforeerd aluminium paneel Kunststeen Baksteen

Aluminium deur ensemble Zichtbeton

Houten ramen (wit geschilderd) Inleverbox Aluminium paneel + signalisatie

Aluminium deur ensemble Zichtbeton

suggests that these subtle decisions at the level of thedetail can be effective in disrupting the intrinsic rep-etition of the programme. The building is organisedaround two courtyards which step in section to createdifference between the floors. The bricks lining thecourtyard will be finished with a brick slurry to reflectmore light down and emphasise the differencebetween inside and outside.

Over the past year Sergison Bates has moved evenfurther afield, working on an office building at a newpharmaceutical research campus for Novartis, underconstruction near Shanghai. Realising that there is alocal tradition of brick building it considered a load-bearing brick building but even in China labour costswere prohibitive and local seismic activity demandeda concrete frame. Instead the proposal is to use

L-shaped columns clad in brick with a varied wallplane of panels and openings behind.

Sergison Bates seems to be thriving in these lessfamiliar environments. Through the use of brick, fun-damental to the built environment of many civilisa-tions, the practice is finding it possible to engage con-vincingly with cultures where one might have thoughtthey had little in common. The architects’ inventionand meticulous attention to detail is reinvigoratingthe possibilities of brick construction. Their workdemonstrates that by bringing some thought and careto the way brickwork is made, it can come alive.

Above Urban housing at Canning Town, London (ph: David Grandorge).Below left Home for senior citizens, Huise, Belgium, now under construction.Below Blankenberge library, Belgium, currently under construction.

Peder Vilhelm Jensen-Klint (1853-1930) was a central figurein twentieth century Danish design, evolving over the courseof his career from an engineer into a multi-talented artistand finally into one of Denmark’s most original architects,whose masterpiece was the Gruntvig Church (1913-1940).

In his dry India-ink drawings of the church, Jensen-Klintmaintained such a high degree of abstraction that thehuman activities that were to take place in the building seemto have been of secondary importance to him. Steen EilerRasmussen was both fascinated and amazed by this: ‘Thiscurious building will truly stand as a monument for laterages, and people will be amazed that this idealised Gothickchurch was created here in the twentieth century, for theinner life to fill it will be lacking. Even though it will standon its hill, as concrete as anything can be, made of thousandsof bricks, it is nonetheless an abstraction for us, first andforemost a pure form, art for art’s sake.’

PV Jensen-Klint’s ‘poem in limeand brick’ retains a unique placein Danish culture and identity.Here, Thomas Bo Jensen explores itscrypt, where the building’s tectonicqualities are intensely experienced.


Jensen-Klint had the church’s main concept clear whenwork began in 1921, and continued to make detail drawingsfor the tower’s brickwork until 1927. The precision and carewith which these drawings were made is impressive. Jensen-Klint had not just amassed a vast knowledge of old rules forbrickwork, but was also able to transform and develop themfor his own structural, aesthetic and spatial intentions – thestructural drawings of brick arches, for example, clearlyshow that he did not only use the circular, elliptical and par-abolic arches familiar from masonry manuals. The drawingsof secondary interior spaces – such as reinforcing ribs, theorgan loft and the side gallery high above the sanctuary –are pure masterpieces of the art of drawing brickwork. Brickby brick, made with prim perfectionism, they bear witness tohow fully Jensen-Klint mastered his tectonic art.

The crypt can be reached via the anterooms in the sidebuildings or via the narrow, pentagonal ambulatory, which

PRECEDENT

The Gruntvig Church has two levels. The upper one is less than one metre wideand has a free height of 16 metres. The lower level, whichleads down to the crypt, is yet another of the church’s dis-tinctive secondary spaces. The ceiling is so low that it isimpossible to avoid seeing the way in which the brickworkforms a closed barrel vault, directly extending the verticalwalls. In the room’s obtuse angles, the vault turns the cornerwith the aid of an elegant joint in which the bricks are bev-elled diagonally on two sides and interwoven in what bringsto mind a zigzag stitch.

Here, in this compressed brick universe, we can rejoice inthe fact that Kaare Klint – Jensen-Klint’s son, who complet-ed his father’s work – relinquished the idea of wrought ironrailings and instead used brick balustrades to separate theambulatory from the sanctuary. The room is crowned by awindow detail that once again emphasises the formidablearchitectural energy that characterises every corner of the

PHOTO 1

Far left The 49-metre-tallwest elevation withstepped gable and porch.Left Gruntvig Churchdevelops an idea firstexplored in earlier Jensen-Klint projects such as hisnational memorial (1907),which he described as a‘crystal knot of Danishchurch towers’.Right At the 1933 topping-out ceremony, Kaare Klintobserved: ‘The finelysmoothed bricks enabled aprecision that has probablynever before beenachieved in brickwork, yetthere is no hardness aboutthe material; ‘firm but soft’was an expression that myfather favoured.’Below Even the mostminor spaces in the church –such as the organ loft – weredrawn in painstaking detail.Credits Photos: Ole Meyer.

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church. Light is led down into the crypt through three deepshafts. The centremost of these light shafts is interrupted bythe lower ambulatory. But the downward movement is main-tained in a straight line and emphasised with the aid ofbricks put at acute or obtuse angles in the outermost rim ofthe arches. It is places like these that make us dizzy at thethought of the bricklayers who stood here in peace andquiet, a plug of tobacco in their cheeks, and smoothed eachbrick to jewel-like perfection before they laid it in place.

The arches and vaults in the crypts are flattened and low.The room seems powerfully compressed, as if the columnsand vaults of the sanctuary were forced into a dense massthat envelops the dim hollow. The crypt’s mass is reflecteddirectly in the surfaces, which seem to press down heavily onthe room. The light shafts, as much as four metres deep,reinforce this weight, creating a dramatic contrast to the del-icate forms of the sanctuary. Nonetheless, there is elegancein the lines that matches that in the sanctuary above.

Also noteworthy is the way in which the structure isrevealed where the light shafts break through the wall. Thedeep window recesses rest directly on the wall ribs’ top point-ed arch, whose upper side thus becomes visible all the waythrough the wall. It was not necessary to take the arch all theway in like this, but revealing the inside of the wall made itpossible to emphasise the brickwork’s tectonic cohesion –and beauty. The cultivation of beauty is also found in the severies, which are built up as homogenous shells withoutribs. In the nave of the crypt, the ribs were replaced bygroins of cut, interwoven bricks, while the shells were joinedby a zigzag seam of diagonally-cut bricks that overlap in twos.

The crypt is a tectonic cave in which each and every brickwas inserted precisely into a spatial knot that provides a mas-terful contrast to the sanctuary above. It is a theatricalantipode, which plays beautifully upon the human contraststhat are the church’s primary focal point. It is the church’sinnermost idea, presented in a spatial continuum in whichman’s hands pushed each individual brick into place, butwhere the life that normally follows the hand’s own work hasparadoxically shrunk into the arid lines of an abstraction. Itis distant and ethereal, but also immediate and tactile. Thewarm intermediary space in which man seeks confirmationin everyday life did not interest Jensen-Klint. The church isfirst and foremost a trancendental edifice, which is why thisseeming arrogance must be considered legitimate.

Left The lower level of the ambultaory leading to the crypt, with bricks stitched in azigzag pattern. This stitch was made on both the internal and external corners, with arespective concave and convex bevelling of the brick as a result. The surface of the ceiling is also broken by arches that cut into the vaulted shape from openings to theside of the church.Top right The vaults in the crypt are not quite as low as Jensen-Klint originally con-ceived them, because Kaare Klint misunderstood the drawing.Right The deep window recesses, which rest directly on the wall ribs, underline theimpression of the room’s dramatic weight; Reinforcing ribs and wall ribs emergedirectly from the low columns. The low columns’ lowermost courses are recessedslightly, while the following courses have beveled edges up to the spring lines of thereinforcing ribs, only 1200 mm over the floor. The simple details together form horizon-tal lines through the room and establish a strict architectural order in the dense space;Resting on the heavy reinforcing ribs, the crypt’s severies meet in a zig-zagged seamwhere the bricks are cut at sharp angles.Credits Photos: Ole Meyer.

Thomas Bo Jensen is an architect and associate professor at the RoyalDanish Academy of Fine Arts, School of Architecture in Copenhagen. His book PV Jensen-Klint: The Headstrong Master Builder is published byTaylor & Francis (2009).


TECHNICALo

Thin joint masonry has been employedin mainland Europe for sometime butits use in the UK started around theturn of the century. By way of an intro-duction thin joint masonry is an assem-bly of masonry units in mortar beds of0.5mm to 3mm thickness, normallyreferred to as thin layer mortar, andwithout pointing. For practical reasonsthe upper limit is more likely to be4mm and the brickwork should be setout to the brick dimension plus 3-4mm.

The use of thin joint brickwork givesdesigners the opportunity to be inno-vative in their use of bricks, creatingoriginal and exciting clay facades and

enabling architectural features thatare not as easily achievable with con-ventional brickwork. For example, theabsence of pointing in thin joint brick-work means that the appearance ofthe finished wall is unlike that of con-ventional brickwork. The colour andtexture of the brick are enhancedbecause they are not moderated by themortar joints.

Furthermore, in cavity wall construc-tion the inner and the outer leaves donot coordinate and the designer istherefore not restricted with brick sizeand shape.

Thin joint brickwork also makes iteasy to manipulate bricks while thewall is being built. It is therefore possi-ble to introduce surface modelling bylaying bricks at different angles (out ofplane), or altering the plane of thework by recessing and projecting thebrickwork face.

Compressive strengthGenerally, the compressive strength ofmasonry reduces with increasing jointthickness. Thin joint brickwork hasbeen shown to have superior compres-sive strength compared to traditionalbrickwork, but for design purposesstrengths for nominal 10mm bed mortar joints can be used.

Flexural strengthThe use of thin layer mortar ratherthan traditional mortar results ingreater flexural strength in brickwork.However, this enhancement is some-what compromised with bed jointwidths being less than 100mm. Inother words, the reduction in flexuralstrength is offset by the higher mortarstrength. On the basis of test results,flexural strengths compare favourablywith those corresponding to tradition-al mortar designations (ii) and (iii).

Movement jointsThe principles of movement jointspacing and location are similar tothose used in traditional brickwork. Inthe early days of development therequirement for movement joint spac-ing was considered more onerous andtypically values of two-thirds of thoseadopted for traditional brickworkwere specified. This may have beendue to the stronger mortar used in thisform of construction. However inrecent years the tendency has been toincrease the joint centres to the frequency of brickwork in traditionalmortar, ie 10-12 metres.

Wall tiesWall ties used in traditional masonryconstruction are not suitable for usein thin joint systems because it is likelythat the brickwork will not coordinatewith the inner leaf blockwork in cavity

Walk the lineThe BDA examines the practical aspects of specifying thin joint masonry.

wall construction. There are a numberof proprietary wall ties which havebeen specifically developed. They aretypically face-fixed to the inner leaf,though in case of aircrete, inner leafhelical ties are driven into blockworkand set in the brickwork bed joints.Face-fixed ties can also be used withtimber frames. It is important that nei-ther the thickness nor the diameter ofsuch ties should be greater than three-quarters of the declared value of thejoint thickness. Ties similar to theFastrack short channel system can alsobe used where the channel is fixed tothe inner leaf blockwork.

ConstructionLaying thin joint brickwork involves anew approach on site and operativesneed to be trained in its use. Severaloperatives are now trained in the UKand brick manufacturers may be

consulted about training courses.Thin joint mortar is mixed using a

proprietary machine and typicallyplaced via an eight metre hose with atwin outlet gun nozzle. The machineswork on 240 volts and are importedfrom Europe, but can be hired in theUK. For health and safety reasons 110volts step down transformers are need-ed on UK sites. Proprietary mortar islaid at least 10mm back from the exter-nal brick face and positioned centrallyin order to avoid staining and snots.

Bed joints can be continuouslymortared with the gun and the per-pends are mortared by aligning thebricks on their ends in rows and con-tinuously mortaring prior to laying.The mortar quickly starts to set aftermixing and a continuous operation isrequired in order to prevent the gunfrom getting blocked. It is recom-mended that operatives take phased

• Progress is not weather-reliant.• Reduction in both waste and on site

trades and supervision.• High degree of flexibility with respect

to other structural systems.The following points should be con-

sidered when adopting prefabrication:• Panels must be of a manageable size

for efficient transportation and erec-tion on site. Limiting vertical elevations to a single storey heightimproves handling and reduces temporary works.

• Attention to fixings and connectionsystems with respect to the sub- andsuperstructures and the overall stability.The simplicity with which prefabrica-

tion and in-situ processes may be interchanged to suit the designrequirements make thin joint brick-work a serious option for both claddingand structural components.

breaks to ensure an uninterruptedprogress. Immersing the gun in abucket of water can help to preventshort-term hardening. The machinemust be thoroughly cleaned after eachday, preferably with a pressure washer.

Care should be taken to avoid mortarfalling onto exposed brickworkbecause of the difficulty in cleaning it.Thin joint brickwork should not be laidin freezing weather and cold weatherguidance for traditional masonryshould be adopted. As with traditionalmasonry, newly laid brickwork must beprotected once laid.

PrefabricationOne of the great benefits of thin jointmasonry is its suitability for prefabrica-tion either in a factory or on site.Among the main benefits are:• High quality and consistency in work-

manship.

Left Thin joint mortar is mixed using a proprietarymachine and typically applied using a a twin outlet gunnozzle. It should be laid at least 10mm back from theexternal brick face and positioned centrally in order toavoid staining and snots.Opposite Ecohouse constructed from prefabricated wall panels incorporating thin joint masonry (main photo: Hufton & Crow).

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