Housing in Southern Africa October 2015

Bricks & Paving

office block. The southern side has an immense 18 m high face brick wall, which proved to be a significant design challenge for the architects. “The original idea was to reuse the old bricks from the demolished warehouse for the wall but, because it is such a vast expanse thereweren’t enough and we tried different pat- terns. Corobrik were fantastic, sup- plying us with a number of samples. The terracotta satin face bricks were the perfect choice, effortlessly blend- ing the feel of the older buildings with a modern look,” said Fourie The design selected for the wall was English bond brickwork with a relief pattern whereby every second half-brick protrudes from the wall by 15mm. “There was a lot of experimen- tation on how far the brick should protrude - too much and it would become a dust trap - but it had to project enough to create an interest- ing façade.” The 15 mmprojection created dif- ferent shadows throughout the day so that the look of thewall constantly changes. The inevitable efflorescence – a white, salt deposit from the face brick – is disguised by the pattern of the bricks. Dean Jay Architects selected Coro- brik’s range of Burgundy pavers and used a Herringbone pattern for the heavy vehicle traffic and a stretcher bond pattern for the pedestrian traffic. ■

landmark

quite obvious in the newer struc- tures,” explained Fourie. The trendy Boiler Room cafe, housed in the original factory boiler room has a much more modern feel. This sits alongside the eye-catching chimney stack which has retained its original brickwork yet blends in with the newer structures. One of the newer buildings is the impressive six-storey building on the eastern side of the property, which com- prises a parkade and

pattern gave character and charm to the individual buildings. The interiors of the existing build- ings have retained the industrial, factory design with exposed trusses and clerestorey lighting, to admit light and fresh air.The internal face brick has been painted in shades of white and grey which introduces dif- ferent textures while in keeping with the industrial feel. The older buildings have also retained the original English bond brickwork pattern on the plinth which correlateswith a number of the signature building aspects such as the “signage walls” which have been constructed using reused old bricks. “We wanted to sustain what we could from the old structures but have made the style

October 2015