PGH Bricks & Pavers recently supplied Blue Steel Flash face bricks and purpose-made common bricks for the Eora Apartments project in Dulwich Hill, Sydney.

Sydney based construction company Hanna & Hanna purchased the large rundown factory site in the inner west Sydney suburb of Dulwich Hill and their vision was to reinvigorate the area by creating a ‘vertical village’ that embraced the suburb’s traditional sense of community, without compromising the need for personal space and privacy.

Architect Theodor Lucas was selected by Hanna & Hanna for the design work, and one of the early challenges confronting the development was the local building authority’s insistence that all external facades had to be fully rendered. This conflicted with the proposed design, which incorporated an articulated wall treatment featuring face brickwork as a key design element.

Face bricks were desired for a number of reasons. They have a natural beauty that adds warmth to modern construction, which can’t be achieved with a monolithic render treatment. Additionally, from a functional perspective, bricks are strong, durable and maintenance free, making them a cost effective building material.

Blue Steel Flash face bricks from PGH Bricks & Pavers satisfied both the council’s urban design objectives and the architect’s overall vision. The unique metallic finish provided a freshness that complements the building’s form and delivers a modern streetscape. In addition to the 200,000 face bricks used in the development, PGH Bricks & Pavers also provided a range of purpose-made common bricks that were laid in a range of applications during the construction.

All external rendered walls utilised a ‘Scratchcoat’ common, which provided the ideal substrate for the application of cement based renders. For the internal walls, ‘Schooner’ commons were used. The larger height of these commons saves valuable time on-site, leading to significant cost savings.

And finally, the dividing wall separating buildings 1 and 2 used a ‘smoothface’ common, which was subsequently painted to add additional colour and texture to the development.

Further information on Blue Steel Flash face bricks and the purpose-made common bricks used in this project is available from PGH Bricks & Pavers.