Brick in additions and renovations
/Brick buildings sometimes pose a unique challenge to architects and designers. They are too well-loved and too durable.
Sounds like a job applicant answering the question, “What’s your biggest weakness?” doesn’t it? How can a building be too well-loved and too durable? The challenge comes when a well-loved and durable brick building is to be expanded, or after 80 plus years of no-maintenance bliss, a few brick need to be replaced. Fortunately, we’re here to help!
So what’s the challenge?
First, brick comes in a huge range of textures, colors, and sizes. Brick also lasts a very long time. These are both excellent things, but by the time a building addition is contemplated or a repair is necessary, it may be hard to find a perfect match for the original brick. The exact combination of the original brick’s traits may no longer be in production.
Second, technology and production methods keep improving over time, so today’s brick and mortars may have some physical characteristics that are not so compatible with older brick. This can be a particular issue for historic renovations.
So, the challenge can be both physical and aesthetic. We’ll let the engineers handle the issues of different physical characteristics between old and new brick. The Brick Industry Association has provided excellent guidance on the use of replacement brick that can be found in the following publications.
On the aesthetic side, here are a few design considerations that can help you with that brick building renovation or addition you’ve been hired to do:
The area of a brick wall is typically comprised of around 80% brick and 20% mortar. And, at the risk of stating the obvious, the mortar forms a visual border around each individual brick unit. Consequently, subtle differences in color and texture between the old and new brick can be downplayed by getting the match of the mortar color just right. Mortar can be pigmented to match the old construction and the winning recipe duplicated across the entire project. It’s also important that the mortar on the new addition be struck in the same way as the original building.
It can be helpful to design with an intentionally contrasting color of brick if a close match can’t be found. This is especially true at transition points between old and new construction, where the eye gets a side-by-side comparison of the old and new brick. Fortunately, you’ll have a huge range of complimentary colors to choose from with brick.
Use a sample panel that incorporates new and old brick together, along with the proposed mortar, to get a better idea of how the addition or renovation will look in the wall.
It’s important that the designer have the vision to know that this “weakness” of brick is actually a strength, just like the interviewer knows how to find the real value in the applicant’s answer. After all, matching old and new facades is rarely an issue with other materials. They aren’t around long enough, or aren’t well-loved enough, to deserve fresh investment many decades later!
