When using brick in your home with the desire to create a bold statement, there are infinite opportunities when it comes to colour, shape, size, patterning and location. You can create a diverse range of luxurious, forward-thinking and stylish looks both in your indoor and outdoor spaces by utilising the flexibility and authentic look of real, natural brick.

For decades, brick has been the building material of choice for many architects and builders due to the strength, durability, low maintenance and beautiful aesthetic that it offers to any project. Achieving that beautiful brick façade in high rise buildings has at times been challenging, with the installation of hand laid brickwork quite difficult to integrate into required deadlines and budgets for high rise projects. Innovative brick façade systems such as Corium and InBrick have responded to those architectural challenges, offering a solution with both design and construction benefits.

So, how do you effectively achieve that brick façade without some of the challenges of hand laid bricks?

Rainscreen Facades

Meeting the challenge of achieving a brick façade at height, rainscreen façade systems are a modern façade construction method comprising of rainscreen cladding on the outer layer in collaboration with a frame, weather resistant membrane, insulation, sub-frame, and a ventilated cavity. A rainscreen façade system can be described as a double-wall construction, whereby the outer surface protects the build from rain and other adverse weather, whilst the inner layer aids thermal insulation and helps to prevent excessive air leakage and carry wind loading.

Corium by PGH Bricks & Pavers is a rainscreen façade that offers fast track installation and a genuine brick finish for those projects requiring a lightweight cladding system rather than traditional brickwork. Designed to open up the possibility to install brick at height, the Corium system comprises of brick tiles specially manufactured to fix to a HPS200 galvanised steel backing section. Corium’s unique mechanical clipping feature ensures the strength of the stunning brick façade, whilst also offering the versatility to adjust the brick tiles’ position during the installation process. Finishing off the desired brick façade is completed by adding the mortar through a pump system.

The versatility of the innovative Corium brick tile system enables the product to be used in collaboration with a diverse range of substructures, including concrete, timber frames and structural steel. Importantly, the Corium system can be mounted at any angle, meaning that not only is a brick façade now possible in high rise buildings, but it is also possible to achieve overhead in soffits and ceilings.

The Vibe Hotel, Darling Harbour

The Vibe Hotel in Sydney’s Darling Harbour is a great example of the unique and stunning results made possible by using a rainscreen façade like Corium. WMK Architecture was able to create hanging brickwork, curved feature walls and arches into the beautiful design.

WMK Architecture stated that “Rather than building the brickwork up, the Corium brickwork was installed from the top down as scaffold was being removed from the building.”

“The clip brick system was cost-effective, quick to install and made it easy to form up the brick soffits” WMK Architecture continued.

Further reading on the use of Corium in this project is available at The Vibe Hotel case study.

Brick Inlay Systems

A brick façade at height can also be achieved using a brick inlay system, which is an innovative façade solution where brick tiles are embedded into precast concrete panels. This creates the look and feel of a traditional brick wall, whilst enabling the brick walls to be manufactured offsite. Brick inlay systems enable accelerated construction times and considerable cost efficiencies by the walls being fabricated offsite and ready to install.

InBrick is an inlay brick system that uses conventional precast methods of installation. This eliminates additional labour on site as well as post installation surface treatment. The design flexibility of InBrick provides endless possibilities for where the brick façade system can be used to achieve the look and feel of traditional brickwork.

InBrick can be used in a variety of applications with pre-cast, tilt-up and cast in place all possible with this system. Being a fantastic method for installing brick at height, this precast method also accommodates arches, headers, soffits, and multiple coursing patterns making it a fantastic method for achieving a genuine brick finish in high rise, commercial and multi-residential designs.

The Corium and InBrick brick façade systems by PGH Bricks & Pavers mean that clay brick facades at height are certainly possible. Not only is it now possible to incorporate brick simply and effectively into high rise projects, but there are many non-aesthetic benefits to doing so. The innovative products mean that architects and builders alike are no longer limited by the constraints of hand laid brickwork, which has evolved the design and construction process in the high rise, commercial and multi-residential architectural spaces.

For more information on how to effectively achieve brick façades at height or to get in contact, visit the Corium and InBrick webpages.