Stadtteilschule Kirchwerder, Hamburg · Photo: Anders Sune Berg
A common feature of neighbouring buildings is the diversity of colour in the brick façades, with red and brown shades serving as the basic tone. This also applies to the custom-made bricks for the new school, which span an even broader spectrum, with some bluish and yellow touches evenly distributed across the large, continuous surfaces. This accommodates the variations in the nearby brick façades that emerged over several centuries and are still represented in Vierländer’s rich building culture.
The façade bricks are 528 mm long and have three different heights. In addition to the standard bricks, a number of special formats were developed to form the curve between the vertical longitudinal façade and the sloping roof towards the gables. The geometry is complex, with enticing details, but looks elegant and distinctly solid.
From the outside, the visible signs of the building’s three storeys consist of horizontal recesses, where the brick cladding from the floor above overlaps the one below. The overlap extends up over the window openings and, in other places, falls further down over the underlying façade as if draping it in fabric. The slanted cuts recall the niches of traditional longhouses, where in order to achieve a higher door opening, the façade had to be pulled into the pitched roof, giving rise to this characteristic motif.
“In K57 we found the colours and the look which were the best match for the surroundings. We liked the contrast and iridescence of the specks of colour, which make each brick a one-off, so we were pleased when the brickworks agreed to make a customised version of Cover with the same look.”
Thomas Kröger, architect
Using Cover on the exterior walls fitted in nicely with the local thatched-roof building tradition and meant that the undulating façades could be made without visible transitions. Angled overlaps at the points where the floors meet create the illusion that façade is defying gravity.
The delimited territory established by the two volumes opens up to the fields in the flat landscape. Drainage canals run around the school, while small mechanical systems regulate the water level – surely a dream scenario for nature and technology teachers!
The two volumes also represent the organisational division of the school. In the southern wing are classrooms with associated group workspaces, informal work areas and social lounges. The shorter northern wing contains rooms for subjects like music and drama, crafts and woodwork, as well as the cafeteria and administration offices.
The interior detailing is characterised by the concrete construction, which is predominantly untreated, with the moulding marks providing ornamentation. The stairwells feature welcoming oversized benches formed by large ledges. In the southern wing, the partitions between the classrooms are largely treated with blackboard paint, which the students decorate with colourful chalk drawings. It seems like a nice place to go to school.
The north wing classrooms culminate in the big, beautiful theatre hall, which takes its shape from the gables. From
The shape of the main blocks made the detailing complex, which placed added demands on the cladding.
The two main buildings and the gymnasium are striking additions to the distinctly rural setting, which is made up mainly of family homes, greenhouses and agricultural buildings.
“We wanted to work with red brickwork, naturally, but to reinvent it, so we took Petersen’s Kolumba and laid it vertically. Using these very long, narrow formats vertically allows you to navigate corners in a very elegant way.”
Precision work
SIMPLE LINES AND THE INTERPLAY BETWEEN TWO CONTRASTING MATERIALS – BRICK AND GLASS – CHARACTERISE DEUTSCHLANDHAUS IN THE CENTRE OF HAMBURG. THE BUILDING CONNECTS TO THE CITY’S HISTORIC ARCHITECTURE BUT ADDS SOMETHING NEW – BRICKWORK LAID VERTICALLY.
by Martin Søberg, PhD, architectural historian
Hamburg’s cityscape is characterised by a particular type of building, the big Kontorhäuser, several of which are UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Originally, these buildings, mostly built in red brick, housed commercial and accounting premises – the equivalent of modern offices – but also served as warehouses for traded goods. Now, this venerable family has a new member – Deutschlandhaus, a compact yet elegant red-brick building with mixed functions and a focus on office use. It stands in the city’s historic centre, on the old square, Gänsemarkt, beside the opera house and close to the Binnenalster lake.
The name Deutschlandhaus comes from an earlier building on the site, built in 1929 in a distinctly modernist idiom. The
original’s rounded corners and horizontal lines were designed to convey the sense of speed and excitement of the thenbrand-new mode of transport: the car. At the same time, the red-brick façades on the upper floors offered a link to more traditional architecture. As well as offices, shops and restaurants, Deutschlandhaus housed Europe’s largest cinema, the 2,700-seat Ufa-Palast. After suffering heavy damage during the Second World War, the complex was renovated several times, but its original architectural character was lost. Its successor is the 40,000-m2 Deutschlandhaus, designed by Hadi Teherani Architects. The new building incorporates several features from its predecessor, such as the brickwork, the
Section
The original Deutschlandhaus, built in 1929.
Deutschlandhaus joins other red-brick buildings around the historic Gänsemarkt square in the centre of Hamburg.
Vertical Kolumba bricks wrap around the curved corners and over the pillars and beams. As the storeys move upwards, the pillars become two bricks narrower at each level, which visually reinforces the tapering architectural form.
Floor plan, 4th floor
Christian Bergmann, architect
rounded corners and the horizontal lines, but avoids becoming a pastiche and it is very much of its time.
“We wanted to celebrate high-quality, handmade materials. We used 20-mmdeep joints that bring out the imperfections of the brick, especially because of the rounded corners and the way the sunlight and shadows interact with the material.”
Christian Bergmann, architect
“We wanted to work with red brickwork, naturally, but to reinvent it, so we took Petersen’s Kolumba and laid it vertically. Using these very long, narrow formats vertically allows you to navigate corners in a very elegant way,” explains Christian Bergmann, Partner and Head of Architecture at Hadi Teherani Architects.
To emphasise the façade’s relief effect, the windows are deeply recessed. The other architectural elements are also minimised, so brick and glass stand out as the main materials.
The façade is made of prefabricated concrete elements with embedded, mortar-free brickwork. “Since the façade bricks didn’t have to be laid on site, we could position them as we saw fit. The bond may look almost random, but it includes repetition that is not immediately obvious, and it all fits in with the building’s other elements,” Bergmann adds.
According to the architect, Kolumba’s strong textural effects provide a crucial counterpoint to the building’s tight lines and gleaming glass surfaces.
“We wanted to celebrate high-quality, handmade materials. We used 20-mm-deep joints that bring out the
Deutschlandhaus primarily consists of offices, which are in the part of the building with stepped levels and rounded corners.
The volume without tapering on the left contains 30 apartments.
Brick and glass are the dominant materials in Deutschlandhaus. The building’s design language and rhythms have been kept as simple as possible to highlight the special character of the materials and their contrasting interplay.
Architect Hadi Teherani (right) visiting the brickworks in 2019. He and Christian A. Petersen (left) consulted various sample boards to select precisely the right brick for the façades.
The light-filled atrium offers a contemplative space, in contrast to the hectic metropolis outside. Mexican fan palms planted in large islands look like vibrant, green sculptures against the backdrop of the staggered, curved galleries.
imperfections of the brick, especially because of the rounded corners and the way the sunlight and shadows interact with the material.”
The reddish-brown colour of the brick also harmonises with the older red-brick buildings in the area.
“At first, we considered mixing three or four different colours of brick but ended up using just one because the production process creates plenty of variation. The bricks look different depending on the season and time of day – they even look slightly different on different sides of the building. We are very happy with it,” Bergmann continues.
Kolumba is also used on the entrance hall’s walls and ceiling. Between two pools of water, an escalator ascends up to a bright, white, publicly accessible atrium crowned by staggered galleries on each floor. At the bottom, the room is elliptical, while 35 metres above is a circular opening covered with translucent ETFE cushions embedded in a steel latticework. In the centre of the atrium, two groups of slender Mexican fan palms cast delicate shadows as they reach towards the sun.
“When you step out of the urban sphere and into the atrium, you move from one world to another. We have given the city a brand-new space with a very special atmosphere,” he concludes.
Deutschlandhaus, Hamburg, Germany
Client: ABG Real Estate Group
Architect: Hadi Teherani Architects
Main contractor: ZECH Bau SE, NL Hamburg
Completed: 2024
Brick: Kolumba in special colour F145 and various custom formats
Photos: Anders Sune Berg
Old and new are connected as the curved forms and red-brick façades of Deutschlandhaus harmonise with its neighbour across the street. Designed by city architect Fritz Schumacher, the listed building was built for the Hamburg Tax Administration in 1918-26.
In the entrance hall, water runs down the two reliefs around the escalator and into shallow pools. The movement of the water creates a play of light that shimmers across the walls and ceiling, which are clad in the same Kolumba as the façade.
Christian Bergmann, Partner and Head of Architecture at Hadi Teherani Architects.
The architects developed Kolumba in the special colour F145 for the building.
LAVENDER BAY HOUSE, SYDNEY
ON THE SLOPE OF LAVENDER BAY, TOBIAS PARTNERS HAS DESIGNED A HOUSE THAT TAKES FULL ADVANTAGE OF ITS LOCATION.
The client’s brief was a home for a family of five, including a home office. Naturally, the design also had to take full advantage of the phenomenal location in Lavender Bay, with views of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, the Opera House and Luna Park.
The task was incredibly complex. The steep site drops 16 metres from Bay View Street to sea level. The excavation process for a five-storey house was technically very challenging and costly. The contractors had to dig deep, partly to preserve the views of surrounding properties. The entire project took seven years, but the result – a home tailored to both the location and the residents’ needs – testifies to a remarkable collaboration between the architect, contractor and engineers.
From the street, Lavender Bay House appears to be on a single level with a garage and oak gate. The glass section at the main entrance frames the view of the Harbour Bridge’s north pylon and gives a foretaste of the view to come. From the hall, you enter the office area or descend the monumental, in-situ cast concrete staircase that forms the spine of the building and connects all five floors. A series of skylights and the varied views from the stairs, including of the planted terraces, make the walk down through the house a bright and welcoming experience.
On the fourth floor are four spacious bedrooms with en suite bathrooms. The third floor features another bedroom, as well as a living room that connects to the 6.5-metre double-height floor below, complete with a large, open-plan kitchen and dining area. The floor-to-ceiling glass provides an unobstructed view of Sydney Harbour. The lower level consists of a lounge area with access to the garden and pool.
The client wanted some of the façade sections to be brick and chose K91. Its white and greyish shades beautifully match the exposed concrete and the handmade structure contrasts with the smooth surfaces of the concrete. The floors and stairs are in light oak, the wet areas and terraces in Brazilian granite. The organisation, spaciousness, and controlled light of Lavender Bay House make it a modern and well-appointed home that not only meets the residents’ needs for privacy but can also accommodate large gatherings.
Lavender Bay House, family home, Sydney
Client: Private
Architect: Tobias Partners
Contractor: Pacific Plus Constructions
Bricklayer: J&O Bricklaying
Completed: 2020
Brick: K91
Photos: Justin Alexander
The 6.5-metre high glass sections allow an optimal view of Sydney Harbour Bridge and Sydney Opera House.
Handmade Kolumba provides a textural contrast with the concrete in the house. The wild bond brickwork forms a beautiful background to the greenery in the courtyards.
The brick surfaces, in various cool white and greyish shades of K91, are also visible from inside the house.
The height of the approximately 1000 m2 building has been minimised for the sake of the neighbours’ view.
“Petersen’s water-struck bricks are ideal for colour gradients. Due to the way they are made, each brick has a multitude of nuances that are also found in the bricks above, below and next to it, creating a harmonious effect.”
Architect John McIldowie
two in light yellow and whitish shades. A gentle colour gradient moves from the darkest bricks at the base to the lightest at the top.
“Petersen’s water-struck bricks are ideal for colour gradients. Due to the way they are made, each brick has a multitude of nuances that are also found in the bricks above, below and next to it, creating a harmonious gradient effect,” says McIldowie.
“The wall facing the sports fields has horizontal and vertical curves, emphasised by the colour gradient. This softens the edges and creates a kind of veil around the learning environment inside. The idea is that the undulating brickwork echoes an innovative approach to material craftsmanship and learning. The curved brickwork is both a celebration of the students’ achievements and a protective frame around them. Petersen bricks were ideal for the job as they possess both a softness of tone and texture and a solidity when viewed as a whole.”
Nicholas Learning Centre, Methodist Ladies’ College, Kew, Melbourne
Client: Methodist Ladies’ College
Architect: McIldowie Partners
Contractor: McCorkell Constructions
Engineer: Arup and BG&E Facades
Landscape architect: Taylor Cullity Lethlean
Completed: 2019
Brick: D51, D71, D72, D98 DNF
Photos: Trevor Mein, Peter Bennetts
The undulating façades presented a complex technical challenge, the solution to which was an underlying steel structure.
The colours of the undulating brickwork form a gradient from whitish and delicate yellow to light and dark grey.
The western façade has large glass sections with sliding doors that open onto the large garden and create interaction between inside and out.
The college offers a number of settings for interaction and relaxation.
TRADITIONAL AND FAMILAR MATERIALS ARE USED ON THIS NEW DUALOCCUPANCY DEVELOPMENT IN THE LEAFY SUBURB OF ELSTERNWICK IN MELBOURNE, REIMAGINING A NEW DESIGN FOR THIS TYPOLOGY.
Semi-detached houses have several obvious advantages, including efficiency in site utilisation, increased density, thermal characteristics and economical façades. With Elsternwick Residences, ADDARC has challenged the traditional perception of this type of housing, which is often designed as mirrored or otherwise complementary units. The two 400-m2 homes share a single front, resembling a generous singular detached home. The approach is a success – passers-by do not realise that two individual homes lie behind the thoughtfully composed façade.
As a logical consequence of the main architectural approach, access to each home is different. One front door faces the road to the south, while the other is on the east façade and accessed via a centralised garden courtyard.
The materials brick and wood, in muted colours, create a sense of kinship with the neighbourhood’s 19th-century houses. Together, the façade, garden wall and garages facing the street form a beautiful composition, with alternating sections layered with blue-tempered brickwork in stack bond and black-stained wood cladding, finished with exquisite craftsmanship and detailing.
BRICK HOUSE, NORTH BONDI
THE VERY NARROW PLOT MEANT THE FAMILY HOME WAS DESIGNED WITH CLOSED FAÇADES FACING THE NEIGHBOURS AND A VERTICALLY ORIENTED INTERIOR. THE RESULT IS A HOUSE WITH PLENTY OF NATURAL LIGHT AND A FASCINATING SERIES OF SPACES.
The dramatic, beautiful and alluring suburb of North Bondi, south-east of Sydney, has rugged skerries, sheer cliffs, big skies and an enormous white beach by the often-turbulent Pacific Ocean.
Naturally, Bondi’s scenic beauty makes it a popular place to live, and plots, whether facing the shore or several rows back, are very narrow, with the houses tightly packed together.
On just such a plot, ABA was commissioned to build a two-storey home with five bedrooms, an office, an open-plan kitchen and several living areas. The proximity to neighbouring houses on either side called for a special solution. ABA took advantage of the challenging context to design a series of spaces that work well and offer fascinating and surprising views upwards and downwards.
The ground-floor façades are closed to both the neighbours and the street. Instead, the house is oriented vertically, towards the sky. A large skylight in the double-height central room and glass panels at the top of the façades facing the two neighbours draw plenty of daylight down into the house. A narrow slot in the double-height hall, which cuts through and all the way across the building, is another fascinating source of natural light. The skylight above it brings light into the hall, the office and the rooms on the first floor through openings with wooden screens.
A light-coloured Kolumba brick was a client specification, and K11 clads both the interior and exterior. The front door is at the bottom of the recessed entrance to the right of the façade. From here, the K11 continues into the interior. Inside, the hall leads up a couple of steps to the central kitchen and dining area, which opens up to the living areas at either end of the rectangular floor plan.
Client: Private
Architect: Andrew Burges Architects (ABA)
Completed: 2016
Brick: K11
Photos: Peter Bennetts
The façade cladding on the dual-occupancy development in Elsternwick consists of blue-tempered bricks in stack bond and black-stained wood.
The minimal frames in the upper-level window section make it feel as if there is an open connection to the great outdoors.
North Bondi is a highly sought-after place to live, so the houses in the district are densely packed.
A narrow wooden terrace runs along the gap on the north-west side of the house. The K11-clad façade leads you to the door. The entrance area is recessed.
Brick House, family home, North Bondi, Sydney
The brickwork in the walls on each side of the house is in block bond, and every second course is a full-length brick (529 mm).
A Chinese Tallow tree naturally filters the daylight in the courtyard. A smaller wall in K91, like the boundary walls, absorbs the plot’s height difference.
The neo-Georgian façade facing Moncur Street has been beautifully restored.
The main house has four equally large glass sections facing the courtyard.
The property is accessed from Britannia Lane via a grey-painted steel door.
The city in the woods
AESTHETICS AND DURABILITY ARE NOT THE ONLY FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE DONATAS RAKAUSKAS’ CHOICE OF MATERIALS. RESPECT FOR NATURE IS JUST AS IMPORTANT, A CONVICTION CLEARLY VISIBLE IN THE RESIDENCES HE HAS BUILT IN THE LITHUANIAN CITY OF PALANGA, WHICH WERE DESIGNED AND CONSTRUCTED IN CLOSE COLLABORATION WITH EIMANTAS LUKAUSKIS FROM THE PROPERTY DEVELOPMENT COMPANY LUMONT.
by Ida Præstegaard, MSc Architecture · Photos: Anders Sune Berg
Just arriving in Palanga is special. It feels as if the sound is muffled, as if you step into a dense pine forest, where scattered settlements slowly emerge as you progress toward the centre.
Living in a country with only about 90 km of precious coastline, Lithuanians have always found it attractive and exclusive to holiday by the seaside. Palanga, right on the Baltic Sea, has been their most popular holiday destination for decades.
In recent years, the number of tourists has increased significantly, from around 200,000 in 2012 to more than 500,000 in 2023 – of whom Lithuanians make up more than 90%. This burgeoning popularity has led to a surge in building activity.
There are now more than 2,000 places to stay in hotels and holiday apartments in Palanga and the surrounding area.
Despite this intense construction activity, Palanga has managed to preserve its unique, scenic character and historical architecture, largely due to quite stringent building regulations. But it is also due to locals like the architect Donatas Rakauskas, and Eimantas Lukauskis, a second-generation property developer in the family-owned company Lumont. After studying elsewhere, both returned to Palanga, where they have built a number of holiday complexes together, with more on the drawing board. One afternoon in May 2024, they invited Petersen Tegl to join them in the pine forest to see their projects and uncover the thinking behind them.
Its wide beaches and dense forest have made Palanga Lithuania’s most popular holiday destination for decades. Photo: Shutterstock.
The authorities in Palanga care for the old wooden houses as much as they do for the trees.
Several of the buildings’ walls are finished with interlacing brickwork.
The next stop on our tour is Eglė Apartments, a Z-shaped complex made up of large, soft semicircles that guarantee the best possible views of the green forest.
“Until 2015, I usually clad façades in wood and natural local stone, but for Eglė I wanted to use brick. I began my research by typing ‘the best bricks in the world’ into a search engine. Petersen Tegl came up, and since then we have used only their bricks. The Kolumba range has a great richness of colour, and the shades of K43, K57, K54 and C54, among others, are found in both the trunks and foliage of the trees.”
From there, we head to the recently completed Villa Lynx, the first project on which the duo have opted to use Cover. The five holiday apartments overlook a forest glade.
Our guided tour ends at the architect’s own home – which, like the other buildings we have visited, is nestled in the forest and well camouflaged due to the brown, red and black hues of the bricks on the façade.
For Rakauskas, the choice of materials is key, but it is not his sole concern. “For me, it’s just as much about the story, about common values, and about the credibility of the manufacturer – in this case, Christian A. Petersen. Once I got to know the heritage of the products and met the people behind the name, I realised that the bricks had to be of the highest quality. That trust is crucial.”
“The project’s surroundings are always my main source of inspiration. In Palanga, that means nature – especially the trees. The choice of materials is based not only on aesthetics and durability, but also on respect for nature. Architecture should complement nature, never overshadow it.” Donatas Rakauskas, architect
Completed: 2024
Brick: K57
Private villa
Client and architect: Donatas Rakauskas
Raskaukas’ own house features a protective copper and glass canopy above the front door. The garage door’s lintel is covered with Kolumba in a course of headers.
Local planning regulations require new houses to be partly clad in wood. The architect combined a wooden roof structure with handmade bricks.
Editor Ida Præstegaard in conversation with architect Donatas Raskaukas at his newly built villa.
The site for the U-shaped house in K57 faces the forest.
A Cover was born
WHEN PETERSEN TEGL WAS APPROACHED TO PRODUCE A BRICK TO FEATURE ON THE FRONT COVER OF DOMUS, THERE WAS ONLY EVER GOING TO BE ONE ANSWER. AND THE BRICK WAS ALWAYS GOING TO BE MADE BY HAND.
It all began with a request from Bjarke Ingels of BIG, the guest editor of Domus in 2025, who decided each issue should be dedicated to a single material. In January, it was stone, and the cover featured a photo of a beautiful red natural stone. The February issue is dedicated to earth. Other themes will be glass, concrete, wood, metal, fabric + plastic, nature, resources and digital.
When he decided to make earth a theme, Ingels immediately thought of Petersen Tegl and contacted the brickworks to hear if the company would join in. He wanted a classic red brick and chose to use C36 clay for one in the same format as the magazine: 325 x 245 mm.
Work went on night and day to make it happen within the 10-day production deadline, during which the Domus logo was engraved into the wet clay before it was dried, fired and prepared for shipment to photographer Andrew Zuckerman in New York.
Domus, founded by architect Gio Ponti in 1928, has invited a number of architects as guest editors of each issue of the magazine from 2017 to 2028, when it will celebrate its centenary. Each editor is in charge for a year. In addition to Bjarke Ingels, other guest editors include Michele De Lucchi, Winy Maas, Jean Nouvel, Tadao Ando, David Chipperfield, Steven Holl & Toshiko Mori and Norman Foster.
EASTERN EUROPE (EX POLAND), ITALY INGRID KATHRIN GROKE P: +45 2047 9540 E: IKG@PETERSEN-TEGL.DK
INGRID KATHRIN GROKE P: +45 2047 9540 E: IKG@PETERSEN-TEGL.DK
Like all other custom bricks produced at the brickworks, the one featured on the front cover was made in a wooden mould. The word ‘domus’ was then engraved on it. Steen Hansen and Kim Reinecker from Petersen Tegl were among the main people involved in producing this special brick.
Steen Hansen engraving the letters.
Clay is a living material and can behave unpredictably during drying and firing. To guarantee a good result, several bricks were made.
Bjarke Ingels, editor of Domus 2025, visited Petersen Tegl Studio on Amerika Plads in Copenhagen to inspect the finished brick for his front page.
Domus front page, February 2025. Photo: Andrew Zuckerman.
