Behind the wall

Well rounded

Architect Alex Michaelis of Michaelis Boyd built his own west London home using traditional masonry, and spent months sourcing the right brick – in the end he specified a handmade, imperial-sized product from Petersen, a Danish company. The playful turret-like section of the building at the front of the house shows how masonry is inherently adaptable for curves. Phillips Tracey Architects took their cues from an existing boundary wall when it came to the brickwork for this project. The house looks like a single-storey building from the kerbside, but behind, a basement level means it stretches over two full floors. The simple materials – brick, plus black aluminium for the glazing frames – are a reflection on the minimal form, but the ochre tones of the masonry give the architecture warmth. EXPERT VIEW MODERN MASONRY IN HERITAGE SETTINGS

Architect Kate Jackson explains how to use brick to create harmony in a conservation area: “I think there’s a huge difference between a machine-made product and a handmade one, and we used the latter for our project, Water Meadow (main image, opposite). In this case, the house was in a conservation area, surrounded by historical red-brick buildings. We wanted to let it be a design of its time, but have that feeling of integration, stitching the new design into its environment. Our solution was a very good way of doing that, because, of course, when the older houses were built, there were only handmade options available. The imperfections of the brick are what really sells it – the way the sunlight reflects off it, it almost twinkles. The way we did the mortar was also important, using flush and brush pointing, where it’s flat rather than recessed, and rubbed in a bit. This technique also helped to emphasise the bricks’ imperfections.” This extension to a Hampshire house was designed by LA Hally Architect. The two-storey brick and block addition replaces a double garage, and features a mixture of wirecut grey bricks and cedar cladding as its external skin. Installing new windows throughout has helped to unite old and new. The extension contains a living space and two bedrooms.