A Guide to UK Brick Colours and Textures
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT UK BRICK TEXTURES AND COLOURS
Many people wrongly assume that in the UK, brick comes in a very simple colour, and that brick texture is universal across the board. The majority of people may recognise a slight variation in types of red bricks, without recognising that it’s a facing brick or engineering brick, or anything else. In reality, there is so much more to it than that.
In many circumstances, brick texture is just as important as brick colours. It’s really important for some architects and designers to reflect the look and feel of existing brickwork in various areas across the UK.
Texture can also play a vital role in this decision of which type of brick to use. The texture of brick will influence the ways in which light reflects off the brick surface, how much light and shade is created, as well as the final facade colour.
BESPOKE UK BRICK BLENDS
At Modular Clay Products, we specialise in delivering bespoke bricks, in various designs, colours and textures to give you something truly unique. To give you an idea of the wide range of brick options we can supply for you, through our strategic partnerships with worldwide leading brick manufacturers, we’ve created this short guide for you.
Here we have shed a little more light on common brick textures and colours, which will also hopefully help you when it comes to deciding on what product to choose for a new commercial project.
TYPES OF BRICK TEXTURE
Below are some of the primary brick textures on the market today:
Smooth texture
These wirecut bricks are consistent and modern, retaining, as the name suggests, a smooth sand-faced finish. The sand-faced brick finish adds a lighter texture onto an otherwise sleek brick.
Tumbled texture
These types of brick don’t have as much of a ‘regular’ shape to them, often appearing more ‘distressed’ aesthetic (similar to reclaimed bricks). These bricks appear quite worn even though they just go through an additional ageing process during manufacturing.
Heavy texture
Brick products that possess a rougher, stiffer texture have what is known as a heavier texture. This texture is possible thanks to additional solutions which are applied to facing bricks before firing, which help give the brick face a tougher ‘cracked’ finish.
Light texture
These wirecut clay bricks are very uniform in texture and finish. Numerous appearances are possible with these textures, including dragfaced appearances (by creating small indentations) and ripple or wave effects.
Stock brick texture
These traditional-looking products retain an appearance similar to that of handmade bricks, with a slightly irregular shape and a texture that’s somewhat ‘creased’.
Glazed brick texture
Glazed bricks are a relatively modern product, by which clay facing bricks are given a glossy, ceramic finish. Interestingly, this type of brick finishing was discovered by accident, as a result of standard bricks being fired at too high a temperature in the kiln.
Read more about the benefits of glazed bricks, and why they are useful for commercial building applications.
WHAT COLOURS DO BRICKS COME IN?
Bricks, whether machine-made, handmade or special products like clay pavers or brick slips, can also come in numerous different colours.
The fired brick colour is influenced by the mineral and chemical content of the raw materials, the kiln atmosphere and what temperature the products are fired at. Additional ceramic coatings can be added to facing bricks from Modular Clay Products’ glazed brick range.
Our colour range of clay bricks can be grouped into the following colour categories:
Clay bricks are a natural product, therefore some colours may vary slightly from one brick manufacturer to another.