25 FLORAL STREET, LONDON
It was Renzo Piano who said; “One of the great beauties of architecture is that each time, it is like life starting all over again.”
They say that history is one of modern architecture’s biggest inspirations. Blending the historic with the contemporary is never an easy task for any architect, yet KPF heroically took on the job of turning a private courtyard into a pedestrian development that reflected Central London’s iconic history with a modern twist. Entrusted with crafting a unique development with contemporary designs that respected traditionalism, KPF needed a brick design for the building exterior that would complement modern apartments with stacked windows. Enter Modular Clay Products.
Background
With a view to improve the standards of buildings in the block, provide additional commercial and residential spaces while also creating new public passages between buildings, KPF proposed a new commercial development in the form of Floral Court. It was always going to be challenging considering the need to accurately and seamlessly blend a unique standard of contemporary architecture with the rich history of its surroundings, which Covent Garden is in abundance of.
The client, Capco, working in tandem with architects KPF, have continually sought to improve the outdated facilities that were synonymous with Covent Garden for years. Capco and KPF wanted bricks that would be of a purely bespoke blend, that would be developed in a close timeframe that would meet both parties’ expectations.
Challenge
The standard brick size in the UK is 102mm, but this size simply wouldn’t be suitable for a project of this magnitude. Bespoke bricks always require additional care and attention but extra time also has to be allowed for their production and testing.
Modular Clay Products made several trips to the Janinhoff factory to come up with the long format brick with the bespoke qualities that the client needed for this project. Not only was researching and consulting what was feasible an exceptionally difficult and demanding task, but other challenges lay afoot. There were also the processes of approval and manufacturing to consider, as well as the ever-present, looming turnaround times to adhere to.
Project Images
Challenge
The standard brick size in the UK is 102mm, but this size simply wouldn’t be suitable for a project of this magnitude. Bespoke bricks always require additional care and attention but extra time also has to be allowed for their production and testing.
Modular Clay Products made several trips to the Janinhoff factory to come up with the long format brick with the bespoke qualities that the client needed for this project. Not only was researching and consulting what was feasible an exceptionally difficult and demanding task, but other challenges lay afoot. There were also the processes of approval and manufacturing to consider, as well as the ever-present, looming turnaround times to adhere to.
Solution
Modular Clay Products worked exceptionally closely with both Capco and KPF to source a specialist bespoke precast brick blend. Sourcing the help of Janinhoff, the first brick to create the blend was a water-struck brick (MSZ2BWA) with additional white engobe on it. The second brick was another water-struck type (M12CWA) that offered more of a red finish, to create the bespoke blend of brick.
This particular blend of precast brick met all the criteria that the client had, with Modular Clay Products spending large amounts of time matching the bricks to reflect the ‘stone’ looking finish that the client was after. As precast bricks typically do not contain the ‘panelling’ that can be seen on traditional bricks when being constructed, this required additional care and attention to perfect.
Benefits
Thanks to Modular Clay Products’ diligence to finding an appropriate and unique solution for this development, this meant that the architect’s vision and client’s requirements were both met within the timeframe. Now, the brick building fits seamlessly with the modern-yet-traditional aesthetics of Floral Street with eloquence and simplicity, while retaining its unique shape.