Product category:
Bricks, Blocks and Lintels
News Release from: Ibstock Brick | Subject: Ibstock Brick at National Trust
Edited by the Buildingtalk Editorial
Team on 24 March 2006
Ibstock Brick at National Trust historic
site
Ibstock Bricks unite new National Trust building's historic site with sustainable future.
The National Trust has relocated its central office functions to a new environmentally sustainable building at the heart of Swindon's historic Great Western Railway Works As well as achieving high standards of sustainability, the architecture complements Brunel's original Victorian engineering workshops by use of sympathetic construction materials - Ibstock's Blue Fireborn Clay Blocks, Staffordshire Slate Blue Smooth and Staffordshire Blue Brindle Rustic bricks, as well as special shapes
This article was originally published on Buildingtalk on 9 Jul 2003 at 8.00am (UK)
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Rob Jarman, Head of Sustainability at the National Trust commented: "Our new central office, Heelis, is both a fantastic place to work and a welcoming public face to our charity".
"The exterior makes an appropriate contribution to this historic industrial site, while the interior is light, quiet and cool".
The choice of brick colours echoes the polychromatic appearance of the adjacent Victorian buildings.
Blue Brindle Bricks had actually been discontinued by Ibstock but, at the request of architects Feilden Clegg Bradley, Ibstock recreated them especially.
Blue pigmented lime mortar was used throughout to minimise cement usage and facilitate recycling.
The Blue Brindle Rustic bricks were used on the north-east and north-west elevations as facing bricks in a distinctive stack bond, including on the brick-work cantilevers used as shading fins.
As well as shading the glazing, the vertical fins provide a rhythmical contrast to the walls, to 'lift' the appearance.
The Ibstock Design Advisory Service provided extensive advice to the contractors on value engineering the requirements for special shape bricks require for features such as copings and the shading fins.
On other elevations, stack-bonded blue Fireborn Blocks add another contrast in texture.
The Fireborn Blocks are also employed in landscaping around the buildings to provide seating and wall coping.
As well as the decision to use bricks and lime mortar, other sustainable features of the building include the enhanced thermal insulation, the shading fins to limit solar gain, photovoltaics, lighting control systems, wintertime mechanical ventilation with heat recovery and propane chillers.
As a result, Heelis received an 'excellent' BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method) rating.
Contractor: Moss Construction Architect: Feilden Clegg Bradley.
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