Introduction

Introduction

This teaching package was commissioned by the Clay Brick and Paver Institute (CBPI) to make available to architecture teaching staff, students and practising architects a design and technical guide to designing Australian brickwork other than for house construction.

It complements the CBPI's Masonry Materials and Introduction to Masonry Design teaching packages which deal with the fundamental characteristics of masonry materials and structural design using them. It is complemented by the Web published "Polychromatic Brickwork: a design and construction guide" by Graham Holland and Ian McGilvray at: http://www.arch.usyd.edu.au/~graham/pcbw/index.htm

It shows the long tradition of brickwork in major buildings, highlights aesthetic issues relevant to designing in brickwork, includes technical information on the fundamentals of design and detailing and has six Australian Case Studies of buildings that have used brickwork creatively and successfully.

This package is about the why and how of brickwork, for example, each Case Study explains why brickwork was chosen, identifies design and construction issues that may have arisen and includes detail drawings showing how the design intent was achieved.

It is noteworthy that the architects for almost all of the buildings in the Case Studies were commissioned for full services enabling them to be closely involved in the construction of the buildings and exercise their proper role as controllers of quality. It is also clear that there are enough skills in the bricklaying trade to do the good work done on the Case Study buildings, that bricklayers can rise to any reasonable challenge and welcome opportunities to be able to take pride in their work. It was hoped for more Case Studies from locations other than Sydney, but it proved too difficult to obtain relevant material.

The package assumes that the reader is already familiar with the basics of brickwork construction and detailing, such as dampcourses, cavity wall construction, flashing around openings and building-in of window and door frames.

The authors welcome feedback, please email to Dr Graham Holland at: graham@arch.usyd.edu.au

Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge the foresight of the CBPI in commissioning this work, the expert web design of Michael Bradshaw of Click Here Design, the brick industry companies for allowing the reproduction of their literature and the architects for their cooperation in the preparation of the Case Studies.

How to use this package

This package can be read independently, be placed on a local server, used in classes with appropriate projection, be placed in a library for lending or in-library viewing; in fact, in any way the user chooses.

Each section is able to be read separately, but usually has links to other sections. The illustrations are thumbnails, just click on them to see a larger version.

Disclaimer

Local or State regulations may require variation from the recommendations contained in this publication. While the contents of this publication are believed to be accurate and complete at the time of writing, the information given is intended as a teaching aid and for general guidance and does not replace the services of professional advisers on specific projects. The authors and the Clay Brick and Paver Institute cannot accept any liability whatsoever regarding the contents of this publication. The opinions expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the Clay Brick and Paver Institute.

Illustrations

The illustrations are from: The Audio-Visual Library, Faculty of Architecture, University of Sydney; the architects of the buildings used as Case Studies; manufacturers' literature and the authors.

Copyright

This document is copyright and protected by the relevant sections of both the Australian Copyright Act and international copyright conventions. However, for the purposes of dissemination, this document is permitted to be copied and redistributed as desired. No profit is allowed to be made from the provision of such a service, and no alteration of any kind to the manuscript is allowed.