Bricks Reimagined: How A Classic Material Is Transforming Contemporary Architecture
Once identified with heritage homes, bricks are no longer synonymous with traditional facades and structures. Experiencing a revival amongst contemporary builds, architects and designers are challenging the creative and structural boundaries through which bricks can be utilised and incorporated into projects.
Explore below three projects that showcase the immense versatility of brick, bringing a traditional material to the forefront of innovative design and modern aesthetics.
Six-Ways House by Kennedy Nolan exemplifies the ways in which heritage can be harmonised with contemporary aesthetics. Taking inspiration from the neighbouring homes and local environment, Kennedy Nolan sought to curate a façade for Six-Ways House that seamlessly paired with the surrounding streetscape of North Fitzroy whilst also contributing contemporary architectural aesthetics. Utilising Austral Bricks’ Indulgence throughout the project, the home’s connection to its context and the traditional façades of neighbouring homes is clearly visible, whilst also employing a modern twist with the neutral colour palette.
“Experiencing a revival amongst contemporary builds, architects and designers are challenging the creative and structural boundaries through which bricks can be utilised and incorporated into projects.”
In Wurrungwuri, the duality of the home is linked through its materiality. A bridge between the heritage sandstone front and contemporary extension, the considered use of Bowral Bricks in Chillingham White by Carter Williamson purposefully emulates the sandstone colour of the original site, creating a synergy between the two vastly different sections of the home. With protruding, patterned blocks extending from exterior, brickwork is exemplified throughout the home as not merely a simple materiality choice, but showcased as a deliberately accentuated addition in an innovative use of materiality from Carter Williamson. A monumental feature of the home, the cylindrical staircase, also exhibits the brick as a tactile, ornamental, focal point.
The contemporary structural form of Toowoomba creates an uninhibited synergy between the interior and exterior of the home, defining the indoor and outdoor of the project with the striking red tones of the traditional brick materiality. In a reference to the heritage architecture of the Toowoomba town, Marc & Co have employed the use of Nubick’s Chapel Red blocks, rooting the modern structure in its heritage context. In an innovative design choice, Marc & Co have altered the traditionally horizontal orientation of the bricks to curate an angular, linear look in their vertical setting, paying homage to the local area in the materiality whilst also introducing contemporary design elements to the home.
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