When you design a brick structure, the details of how the building will resist water penetration are probably something like 123rd priority. And that’s generally okay because brick’s cavity wall system is extremely effective, straightforward, and generally easy to implement. But if your design includes arches, protrusions in the facade, or multiple roofline levels, you might want to give some advance thought to how and where you will specify stepped flashing details in your plans.

Stepped or "waterfall" flashing is typically used when brick masonry intersects an adjacent sloping surface or when it surrounds a curved or sloped wall opening. Here are some common applications:

1. Above a segmental or semicircular arch;

2. Above bay windows, or similar features;

3. Where lower story pitched roofs meet the brickwork of higher stories.

The Brick Industry Association (BIA) is now accepting entries for the 2021 Brick in Architecture Awards, the nation's premiere architectural awards program featuring clay brick.

This is your chance to show the world your firm’s best work in brick! Entrants can submit their projects in any of the following categories:

• Commercial

• Education - K-12

• Education - Colleges & Universities (Higher Education)

• Residential – Single Family

• Residential – Multi-Family

• Paving & Landscape Projects

• Historic Renovation

• International

Lately we’ve featured some brick structures with curved walls and details. DeBruce Hall at the Kansas City Art Institute is a great example. In that case, a perfectly smooth appearance in a relatively tight radius was desired. The somewhat iridescent, shimmering look of the manganese ironspot brick, combined with the smooth curve, made parts of the structure almost seem to flow.

Curves in brick walls can be achieved with brick of standard dimensions or by cutting the individual brick units to accommodate their placement in the curve, but brick can also be sourced with its own bend built into each unit to achieve a predetermined radius when the wall is complete. DeBruce Hall used the latter approach, as standard brick laid in a tight radius would have created a bit of angular texture to the curve that didn’t fit the designers’ goals. To make the right choice for your project, consider the following factors.

Architects often design new structures to fit appropriately within the context of the site and reflect the character of the surrounding neighborhood. It’s not often, though, that acknowledging the character of the neighborhood in a new building design explicitly calls for the use of curved brick.

In the Southmoreland Historic District and the Rock Hill Neighborhood of Kansas City, however, curved brick facades and limestone landscape walls are prominent, presenting obvious design cues for Huft, the firm behind Paul and Linda DeBruce Hall at the Kansas City Art Institute (KCAI).

Legend tells us that Mrs. O’Leary’s cow knocked over a lantern in the barn on the evening of October 8, 1871, igniting the Great Chicago Fire that destroyed 3.3 square miles, killed 300 people, and left another 100,000 homeless. Only a handful of structures in the path of the fire survived, and those that did were almost exclusively of masonry construction.

One of the most significant legacies of the fire, besides the O’Leary family being unceasingly (and probably wrongly) blamed, is the abundance of brick structures built to replace those that were lost and to prevent another catastrophic fire in the future. The City of Chicago eventually banned wood construction, and other cities, such as Denver, Colorado, followed suit with their own “insist on brick” policies after their historic fires.

While brick walls are not the only ones that can satisfy the minimum fire resistance ratings mandated by today’s building codes, designers and developers are beginning to demand more than simply “good enough” when it comes to fire safety. The dramatic videos of wildfire destroying homes, businesses, and landmarks in the western U.S. has them asking, “How do we design for a future in which wildfire and extreme weather threats are the norm?”

Architects and builders have never before had so many cladding material options to deliver the look they’re after. But there are other objectives that structures must meet beyond only the aesthetic. Wouldn’t it be great if there was a cladding material that was capable of delivering both visually and functionally in virtually any style? And, what if that material could help you, as a designer, leave your mark well into the future by steadfastly representing your vision for perhaps centuries?

Good news! Technological development has brought this material to us…millennia ago.

The projects highlighted below are a sample of notable and award-winning brick designs that will serve as a lasting legacy for their designers, potentially for centuries. Isn’t it time you worked on your legacy?