Lewes Road

This contemporary architectural design explores many challenging brick elements, creating a well balanced and visually stimulating facade.

The carefully sculpted brick returns featured both above and below the window openings provide an impressive alternating pattern, which experiments with scale, texture and form throughout the building’s perimeter.

Situated on an island at the entry point into the town, the curved design of the building capitalises upon its’ location, allowing the residential development to optimise its’ footprint. IG designed a bespoke solution to accommodate the varying curvature of the north elevation, creating single-piece prefabricated components to achieve each cill and head brick return.

Waugh Thistleton Architects’ impressive design provided IG’s technical team with an exciting challenge to create bespoke solutions for a range of brick cill and head returns.

Capable of accommodating the gradual variation in curvature required, IG’s prefabricated bolt-up brick slip components proved a versatile method of achieving the brick detail within this unique design. Each prefabricated brick slip cill was also designed to support the reveal brickwork of the main facade, ensuring full structural support throughout each elevation.

The largest brick cill return detail featured beneath the outdoor roof terrace. Spanning the 3478mm opening with a 1072mm deep return, IG supplied two of these units to enable the contractor to achieve the large brick detail in a single lift. IG supplied standard stretcher-bond brick slip lintels where a brick slip head return was not required, continuing the running bond pattern of the main facade.

IG’s easy to install solution quickly enabled the contractor to make the architect’s concept a reality.

All cill and head units were supplied as a single-piece component and built into the brickwork of the main facade. Units were simply lifted into position and bedded into the mortar via four welded steel angles. The cill details were inclined at an 80-degree angle and the head detail to 160-degrees.

IG received a consignment of the handmade BEA Polar brick type used on site and produced 7mm brick slips with which to bond to the steelwork of each unit, using IG’s BBA approved adhesive.

The cementitious building fabric contributes to the aesthetic attributes of this bespoke residential development, with elements of textural contrast achieved through material selection. The carefully sculpted brick returns create an alternating pattern throughout the facade, demonstrating Waugh Thistleton Architects’ experimentation with scale, form and texture.

Designed to exploit natural light, the inclined brick detail directs sunlight through the window openings and into the building.