Move over emeralds, the people who live in our great land of Oz know the best cities are built out of brick.
Think Brick Australia
Think Brick Australia represents the clay brick and paver manufacturers of Australia.
Move over emeralds, the people who live in our great land of Oz know the best cities are built out of brick.
Brick work makes a big impact when it comes to the revitalisation and rejuvenation of Australia’s built environment – and the brains behind the latest brick buildings to grace our local landscapes are amassing architectural accolades.
Quay Quarter Lanes and Newcastle East End are two award-winning precincts where modern masonry has been expertly woven into the fabric of NSW’s historic skyline.
World-class collaborations by multi-disciplinary teams across leading architectural firms led to the spectacular outcomes.
Studio Bright and Durbach Block Jaggers Architects / SJB / Tonkin Zulaikha Greer (TZG) received High Commendations at the 2022 and 2021 Think Brick Awards for their efforts in this space, and subsequently dazzled the jury of this year’s National Architecture Awards.
Quay Quarter Lanes by SJB, Silvester Fuller , Studio Bright, Carter Williamson Architects , Lippmann Partnership and ASPECT Studios won the 2022 Walter Burley Griffin Award for Urban Design.
Studio Bright’s work on 8 Loftus St at Quay Quarter Lanes also won the Frederick Romberg Award for Residential Architecture – Multiple Housing.
The jury citation described this rejuvenation of a city block in Circular Quay as “a gift to the city of Sydney.”
The reinvigorated precinct comprises a collection of new and restored buildings and laneways.
Bricks were carefully chosen to maintain continuity with the historic thoroughfares and surrounding heritage buildings.
“Sitting against the Sydney sandstone, the choice of steel grey bricks has been made to contrast and sharpen appreciation of both materials,” Studio Bright’s Think Brick Awards submission stated.
“Grey bricks have been developed as a custom size and colour, with radiused bricks to ensure smooth corner transitions and an urban form that dissolves at the building edges. To the street base, the charcoal brickwork pattern directly references the deeply textured sandstone block pattern of the adjacent heritage buildings.”
“This whole precinct has won a lot of awards and generated plenty of buzz,” Think Brick CEO Elizabeth McIntyre says.
"SJB, Silvester Fuller and Studio Bright were all Think Brick Awards 2022 entrants in the Horbury Hunt Commercial for their projects (project names: Quay Quarter Lanes – Studio Bright, Loftus Street – Silvester Fuller, 9-15 Young Street – SJB).”
Newcastle East End – SJB in collaboration with Durbach Block Jaggers, Tonkin Zulaikha Greer (TZG) and Aspect Studios – is also garnering a lot of attention in the architecture world and received a National Commendation for Urban Design.
Once again, bricks were the natural choice for this pearler seaside precinct that’s seamlessly nestled among Newcastle’s existing heritage buildings.
“Fabric House by Durbach Block Jaggers Architects / SJB / TZG is one of the standouts in this design excellence collaboration,” Elizabeth says.
Tune into the Think Brick podcasts to find out even more about the wonderful design wizards of Oz who are sculpting our nation’s cities:
·??????Mel Bright (Quay Quarter Lanes) https://www.thinkbrick.com.au/podcast/32/mel-bright/
·??????Neil Durbach (Newcastle East End) https://www.thinkbrick.com.au/podcast/26/neil-durbach/
·??????Camilla Block (Newcastle East End) https://www.thinkbrick.com.au/podcast/5/camilla-block/
·??????David Jaggers (Newcastle East End) https://www.thinkbrick.com.au/podcast/64/david-jaggers/