A profiled clinker brick
for a special architectural touch
A new residential and commercial building was constructed in the Geistmarkt square at the heart of Münster’s Geistviertel district. The architect behind the building, Andreas Heupel, aimed to use a simple approach to add rhythm to the façade that extends past its joints. His idea was therefore based on the smallest architectural element: the clinker brick.
An individual touch
To give the building a special character, Andreas Heupel developed a basic wooden model. He brought this model to us at an early stage of the project planning. Using this model as a basis, we then worked together in close cooperation and in several stages of research to create a special brick in all of the designs required for the project
“With its horizontal profile measuring approx. 2.5 x 2.5 cm, the brick was designed to create a rhythmic façade that goes beyond the joints. Our aim was to use a relief with a special elaborate design to give the building envelope its own sophisticated and individual touch. Such a solution can usually only be achieved by using staggered narrow formats, the processing of which is expensive in comparison,” explains Heupel. In this project, the brickwork therefore featured a stretcher bond design using profiled clinker bricks in double thin format (2DF), a more cost-efficient solution in terms of the actual masonry work.
A special plasticity
With their classic red colour, the moulded bricks give the building a three-dimensional look: the brickwork becomes a relief featuring protruding and recessed elements and individual areas of bricks that protrude from the flat façade. As a result, passers-by can admire the building’s structure by means of both sight and touch.
An eye for detail
“The lisenes, emphasised by the even, light orange-red colour of the clinker brinks with an identical joint colour, create fine silhouettes,” states Heupel. Nowadays, within the context of reduced designer aesthetics, details are becoming increasingly important, and construction materials and techniques are coming to the fore. “It is wonderful to see how one single detail can characterise an entire building and give it its own special character,” adds the architect.
Interplay between
profile and smoothness
The conscious use of smooth clinker bricks without a profile in the window jambs gives the building a special accident.
In the individual upright courses that run around the building, these bricks help to add further rhythm to the façade on each floor.
Thinking around the corner
The corners of the building feature special designs of the profiled clinker brick. Here, Andreas Heupel paid plenty of attention to detail when designing the finest elements of the brick.
With this approach, he was able to add even more aesthetic value to the overall brickwork.