Terca: Case Study Terre Doree Gee Street

Wall Solutions - Case Study

Terre Doree Project: Gee Street, London

Client: Durley Investment Corporation Architect: Alfred Munkenbeck & Partners Brickwork Contractor: Precision Brickwork Product: Terre Doree facing bricks Project Type: Commerial

‘Best Commercial Building’ Award Winner ‘Innovative Use of Brick and Clay Products’ Award Winner

Wall Solutions - Case Study

More than just another brick in the wall

Wienerberger Ltd Wienerberger House Brooks Drive Cheadle Royal Business Park Cheadle, Cheshire SK8 3SA T 0161 491 8200 F 0161 491 6529 office@wienerberger.co.uk www.wienerberger.co.uk

Gee Street, London The award-winning Gee Street project in Clerkenwell, London showcases both the eye-catching aesthetic and also innovative qualities of bricks – and how this humble material can transform an urban environment into the realm of the outstanding. So much so that this building won the highly-prized ‘Best Commercial Building’ and ‘Innovative Use of Brick and Clay products’ awards at the 2013 Brick Development Association (BDA) Awards.

Using Wienerberger’s Terre Doree bricks provided a truly creative way to allow for natural ventilation, with openable panels on the inside wall allowing for the air to flow in. Alongside mechanical ventilation solutions it also means the building neither requires cooling or heating whilst the outside temperature is between 0 and 28 degrees.

Judges were impressed with the intricate style the perforations created, and with the cream-coloured brickwork extruding from the glass windows, a striking and modern looking building has been born.

The façade concept for the building was clear: Situated in the historic Clerkenwell warehouse district, it needed to achieve horizontal continuity to emphasise the length and vertical discontinuity to reduce the appearance of height. By taking this approach, the building has created a visually pleasing and yet modest counterpoint to the existing older buildings.

After much consideration, Wienerberger’s Terre Doree brick was chosen because of its resemblance to Mediterranean terra cotta wall blocks, which in northern Italy are used to make perforated walls for feed drying barns.

They also preserved the aesthetic quality of the large sheets of glass without all the sliding ironmongery required to make glass openable.

The building impressed the judges in a number of ways. By using perforated and extruded Terre Doree bricks this has created a beautiful looking façade and showcased the unique appeal of bricks for modern new builds.