Building with Brick

Brick constructions are some of the most sustainable, long-lasting, heat retaining and robust structures that can be produced, but require great planning and good craft skills are required to realise the full potential of this most ancient of building materials. 

This year the University of Brighton's First Year Architecture Students worked on group projects to design, construct and record the development of a number of brick structures. These took the form of vaults, arches and deformed walls. Usually these structures are produced by highly skilled crafts people or robotic construction arms connected to computer operating systems.

Our students were tasked with producing formwork or patterns for construction (often with the aid of computers), which can be delivered in the form of PDF files, to any part of the world. These designs could then be realised using simple guides and cheap materials such as packing cardboard, guiding semi-skilled builders to produce high performance brick building components with a minimum of craft training. 

The formwork has been tested over the last weeks at a test ‘building site’ at Circus Street Brighton, under the supervision of the university’s architectural and technical staff helped by Nathan Green of ECE Architecture who, as well as being a Brighton graduate, is the only skilled brick constructor in the team. 

The first years thanked development company Cathedral for allowing them to use the Circus Street site, which is due for development next year. Special thanks also go to Hanson Building Products, who donated thousands and thousands of bricks and brick slips for use by the students and delivered the materials to the site free of charge.

Top Image: A Catalan vault 

Bottom Image: Deformed wall