Brick façade system supplier Aquarian Cladding has launched Gebrik Modular for the modular housing market. Jazz Rigden, the company’s Sales Director, discusses the benefits of a brick façade and why the Gebrik system is perfect for modular construction.

British construction sites get more than their fair share of adverse weather. Yet with the cost of labour and materials rising quickly, construction companies are looking for more methods of decreasing the variables by relying on less expensive and weather dependent solutions.

In the UK, the humble brick has traditionally been – and remains – a cornerstone of construction, particularly in the domestic sector. That said, significant problems are attached to building with bricks, and they’re not all weather-related. For a start, there is a national shortage of bricklayers, which means that labour costs are higher than they should be. There are also rising costs associated with the manufacture and delivery of raw materials, including bricks, and the environmental impact of producing them. Finally, there is the fact of assembling everything onsite – and once again we return to our unpredictable weather.

All of which suggests that a smarter approach is needed if we are going to continue with brick-based construction, and the answer is two-fold – using a brick-cladding system that comes in at about a quarter of the weight of traditional bricks and is also modular, meaning that it can be constructed offsite and can be delivered and applied at speed.

A brick façade is exactly that – a covering made of fired clay brick slips cast in insulation and supplied in a wide variety of traditional and modern formats, Flemish and stretcher bond being just two of these. A brick façade doesn’t corrode or rot. In fact, compared with other facades it improves with age and doesn’t show weather-related degradation. Brick facades come in a wide range of colours and finishes. For example, the Gebrik system has more than 700 clay brick finishes, giving designers and customers all the creativity and flexibility, they need to get exactly what they want from the façade.

The demand for new housing across the UK means that certain factors, for example weather conditions and an on-going shortage of manual labour, need to be addressed as a matter of urgency. Modular brick cladding that is built offsite and delivered in bulk helps to reduce build programme timings and costs, while increasing flexibility around construction sequence. The result is a much faster and efficient build – for example, Gebrik cladding is fitted in an average of 5/6 days compared to around four months to build a house out of full-sized bricks. On the environmental side, using modular brick cladding reduces carbon footprint simply because thin brick slips require less energy and fewer materials to create. The modular system equals fewer deliveries to site, cutting down on fossil fuel consumption, plus there is much less waste disposal needed on site.

This leads us on to issues around on and offsite efficiency. Increasingly, construction firms are seeing the sense in working in a more modular way, i.e. putting together as many components offsite and under controlled conditions, then delivering in bulk. In an era of rising costs, labour shortages and deep market uncertainty, increasing efficiency is key, so a brick cladding solution like Gebrik is now at the front and centre of up-to-the-minute modular methods of building houses. Made under factory controlled conditions, it is lightweight and is supplied in kit form, aligning it with other offsite modular solutions. Additionally, it’s easy to install, and training in its installation takes a fraction of the time it does to teach someone how to lay bricks – plus it’s free.

The brick-built house is an important and lasting part of the UK’s architectural history. Yet with changing times and more modern ways of building coming into view, the modular brick façade is an exciting, innovative product that chimes perfectly with the brick-built tradition while offering an efficient and flexible solution to the demands of the modern construction industry and its customers.

For more information visit: www.aquariancladding.co.uk