Jemma Ison of Keystone Group (who also supports technical specification for IG Masonry Support) explains how brick slip products can bring sustainability and style to building projects both large and small
Innovative construction techniques are an enabler to a more sustainable built environment. Products that simplify and speed up the build process, while ensuring the highest standards are upheld, reduce time on site and lessen environmental impact.
Masonry is a classic and timeless building material that achieves superior, maintenance free results. Utilising masonry in prominent areas can be essential to delivering an architect’s overall vision, or fulfilling a client’s brief to ensure a project remains in keeping with the local surroundings. Brick slip systems are adaptable to suit any application.
Ideal for small openings over window heads but also deliver effortless results spanning an entrance of a commercial building. Whatever the desired finish, prefabricated units can provide high quality results at low environmental impact.
TIME & ENERGY SAVED
The average time it takes to create intricate masonry details with prefabricated brick-slip solutions is estimated to reduce time by 90% in comparison to traditional on-site methods. As well as the time saving factor there are many other benefits associated with off-site production, from improved construction efficiencies and reduced on-site waste to minimal site impacts due to the fit-and-forget design. Furthermore, a pre-fabricated unit is produced in line with manual handling guidelines. Therefore, designed to be easily managed and handled on-site. This eliminates the consumption of any fuel or electricity needed to aid the installation process.
SKILLS SHORTAGE
While highlighting the direct and indirect sustainable benefits of these prefabricated methods, it is also a recognised challenge that traditional techniques require the services of a highly-skilled bricklayer. In the current climate, this might not be an appointment that is easy to secure. The bricklaying sector, as with the construction industry as a whole, is in the midst of a well-publicised skills shortage. Indeed, the Construction Skills Network (CSN) has forecast a need for 1,450 more bricklayers per year over the next five years to help fulfil UK building projects. Therefore, it could mean an appropriately-qualified bricklayer travelling many miles to work on a particular project, a journey that would incur additional fuel consumption and environmental impacts.
NATURAL HINDRANCES TO EFFICIENT BRICK DETAILING
When it comes to achieving intricate brick details, a building site is far from the ideal environment. Poor weather can hamper high-quality workmanship and build consistency. This can lead to reworks and additional project time, cost and material waste. Whereas offsite manufacture takes place in a controlled environment, enabling products such as brick slip systems to be produced with greater skill and accuracy.
SAFE & ADAPTABLE
Due to their A1 fire-rated finish, there are prefabricated brick slip products on the market that can provide peace of mind to specifiers due to their reliability and compliance with building regulations. In terms of their installation, they are the only UK manufacturer to offer a solution that has dual security using an A1 fire-rated adhesive as well as a secondary stainless steel mechanical fix, providing safety and added aesthetic consistency.
In short, prefabricated brick slip masonry systems are ideal for wherever an intricate brick detail is required. Their specification and installation are made all the easier and more effective through engagement with a prefabricated brick slip specialist. This single point of contact controls the design, pricing and manufacturing process, providing tentative support and expert communication throughout a project.
Quality, consistency and greater sustainability are the ultimate outcomes of the correct specification of prefabricated brick slip solutions, which are gaining in popularity as developers and architects look to utilise one of the world’s oldest, reliable building materials in ever more imaginative style.
Jemma Ison is sustainability manager at Keystone Group