Top Building Trends Inspired by Brick

Clay brick is one of the world’s oldest known building materials. This ancient building material is extremely versatile and resilient and remains a popular choice in architectural design today. The following buildings have been awarded accolades for their cutting-edge architecture and have all incorporated clay face brick in their designs. We hope these breath-taking buildings bring you inspiration for your next renovation project – it is remarkable what can be achieved with the humble and basic brick.

Explore Corobrik’s extensive range of clay face brick in a diverse array of colours and finishes – whether you’re looking for a traditional style face brick or something that is on-point with current architectural trends, Corobrik has something to suit your unique style.

This contemporary building, situated at Sol Plaatje University in the Northern Cape, commands attention with its smooth, solid brick design. It was created by “URBA Architects & Urban Designers” using clay face brick from Corobrik’s Satin range. Its bold form is strikingly simple and earned the designers the SAIA (South African Institute of Architects) Regional Award for Architecture in 2019.

Clay face brick is an unmistakably firm feature of the new uMkhumbane Cultural Museum at Cato Manor, Durban. The award-winning museum surrounds an atrium-like space with a dramatic red brick tower. The museum architects (Rod Choromanski and Dean Ramlal of “Choromanski Architects”) won the eThekwini Municipality Architecture Department’s public design competition in 2003.

If you’re a fan of the smooth texture and warm, terracotta tones of the brick used in the design above and would like to recreate the aesthetic in your next building or renovation project, we recommend using “Firelight” in a smooth finish from Corobrik’s clay face brick range.

The Nelson Mandela Children’s Hospital in Johannesburg utilises a contemporary design that combines concrete and face brick with colourful accents and large windows that offer patients beautiful views of the exterior garden landscape. London-based firms “Sheppard Robson” and “John Copper Architecture” were the winners of an international design competition for the project in 2009.

Inspired by the beauty of brick? Stop in at your nearest Corobrik centre once the lockdown restrictions have lifted, or take a look online at Corobrik’s clay face brick range offering the widest variety of colours, shades, shapes, and textures available.