Arch Construction Animation
Reinforced Brick Cladding
Eight and twelve storey steel blocks comprise this ballet school and student residence. The rain screen façade has square terracotta tubes set horizontally in bays, each bay formed from random lengths and colours of tube.
The terracotta tubes had to be accurately finished to locate within the steel framework. Not all the German material was able to be factory finished both efficiently and to the accuracy required. Bulmer was retained to cut the factory supplied terracotta to length and assemble the thousands of sections into labelled packages for delivery and assembly on-site in a detailed work sequence.
This fine example of carved brickwork is for Draycott House in Chelsea. Bulmer Brick Cutting prepared and supplied the fully washed rubbers, and shared the bricklaying role for the fine jointed ashlar work with the brick carvers, Daniel Mundy and colleagues.
The office and home, with its ‘hidden’ door built into the brickwork of an existing wall won the 2012 AJ Small Projects Awards and was described by the judges as ‘delightful’.
West Elevation arches were set out & hand cut at Bulmer's workshops. The project won 4 titles and high praise from Judges at the 2006 Brick Awards. The Renaissance Hotel was completed in 2010 in similar style and quality.
Restoration of the Grade 1 Listed mansion of King Charles II revealed very early examples of rubbed & gauged arches. Unwashed clay blocks were cut to match the original arches which were laid in lime using traditional methods.