On a recent visit to the Art of the Brick exhibition, which featured 80 LEGO creations by artist Nathan Sawaya, I was reminded of the power of the humble brick. It was used to create dinosaurs and human statues, replicate famous artworks and animals. And the construction industry uses brick just as creatively to give buildings rhythm and distinctive identities. Dinosaur made from over 80,000 LEGO bricks Red facemask made from 9,240 LEGO bricks Bricks in the city The BAM-built new East Ham Civic Campus won the Best Public Building at the 2014 Brick Awards. We had to build the new customer service centre and library next to a Grade II listed Edwardian Technical College and Town Hall, which we also restored. The project showcases Michelmersh Brick Holdings’ newest handmade innovative product i-line, a slim line modern brick to compliment striking contemporary designs. The Brick Development Association Brick Awards judges’ comments stated, the “Customer Service Centre + Library is a well-designed building which sits well in its immediate context, and provides a valuable resource for its neighbourhood.
The quality and use of brick detailing is high and consistent throughout and its solid structure is beautifully put together and well executed. Vertical brick ribbing on the buildings external facade creates an interesting aesthetic and contributes to the overall beauty of the project. The architectural quality is powerful in terms of spatial and light manipulation.” Award winning brickwork on East Ham Customer Service Centre and Library Mock-up showing the hit and miss brickwork and the soldiered brickwork Sometimes, it’s about linking the values of the past with the buildings of the future. For example, BAM is currently building a new student accommodation block as part of the King’s Cross Central development. The 198 bedroom tower will mainly be occupied by students attending the Aga Khan University - Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations (AKU-ISMC) and the Institute for Ismaili Studies (IIS), which will be built nearby. To link the new build to the Aga Khan Foundation’s identity, the architect has specified hit and miss brickwork for each bedroom window, which creates a lattice effect reminiscent of oriental window designs.
They’ve also chosen mixed brickwork to give the building rhythm, made up from rows of soldiered bricks (bricks stacked vertically), which contrast dramatically with the standard horizontal bricks. The rise of the brick in interior design Exposed bricks for interiors are one of the hottest interior design trends of the last few years. Offices, restaurants and universities are all embracing the brick as an internal façade; bricks are sturdy, honest, and linked to a place’s history – values that businesses want to reflect to attract customers. BAM has had to turn external brick walls into internal feature walls for two major London education buildings in the last few years. At Westminster Kingsway College near Victoria, what were previously the external facades of the building are turning into the internal wall for the new atrium. We’re using a TORC system which uses a mixture of low air pressure, little waste and inert fine granulate to clean the bricks and restore their original colour.
We’ve also reused bricks to close up openings, rather than disposing them as waste. The rise of the brick in interior design Exposed bricks for interiors are one of the hottest interior design trends of the last few years. Restoration of the arches at Fish and Coal Building We did a similar exercise when we built the award-winning University of Arts London campus at King’s Cross, which links the old Grade II listed Granary building to the new extended Central St Martin’s school. BAM sensitively cleaned some of the brickwork to restore the original colour, and some parts of the wall had to be rebuilt using traditional techniques. We’re also restoring the Victorian brick arches of the Fish and Coal Buildings at King’s Cross, which will become restaurants. Increasing biodiversity through innovative bricks Despite their basic shape, there has been some innovation in the brick world; most notably the ‘bat-box brick’, which fits in discreetly within a brick wall but provides additional nesting opportunities for local bats.
We’ve installed these at the restored Victorian Stanley Buildings outside St Pancras Station, now known as 7 Pancras Square. BAM has also built some into the adjacent Grade II listed German Gym, while sensitively restoring the detailed Victorian brick façade.A 17-year-old Lego builder and film-maker is helping to promote Paisley's bid to become UK City of Culture 2021.Morgan Spence made a short Lego animation which features some of the town's best-known buildings, products and celebrities.Singer Paolo Nutini, actor Gerard Butler and artist and playwright John Byrne are among those recreated as Lego figures for the film.Morgan said he wanted to show off what Paisley had given to the world."I've used large models such as the Paisley Abbey and the town hall," he said. "I decided to go for a wide range of different characters spanning through the decades so it would be a wide-appealing film."Morgan, who is from Kilbarchan in Renfrewshire, started to get noticed about two years ago for his Lego animations of famous film scenes.
The 6th year pupil at Johnstone High School has since featured on top US talk show Jimmy Kimmel Live! and hit the headlines when he made a film for a Birmingham man's marriage proposal."In my couple of years in the animation industry it's been a bit of a shock - especially being so young," he said."It's interesting to see how one thing leads to another." The three-minute Paisley animation took Morgan about four months to complete."The process I use is called stop motion and that's quite a time-lengthy process," he said."Every one second of film requires 15 individual pictures." The film was launched at St Charles' primary School in Paisley in front of a primary seven class,Pupil Corinne Lafferty said: "It was really well animated and I enjoyed all the characters in it."I think we should win the bid because the culture in Paisley is amazing."Pupil Madysann Wilson said she was impressed with Morgan's patience as a film-maker and enjoyed seeing Paolo Nutini featured."One of our classmates is cousins with him, so it was kind of funny to see that," she said."