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Revealing New Language for Brick Architecture

Steel Backed Brick

Across Australia brick is re-emerging not as a conventional building material, but as a deliberate architectural language of texture, memory and craft. Sculptural curved façades and adaptive reuse projects are utilising the versaility of brick to ground contemporary developments within the urban landscape.

Steel Backed Brick has over 20 years of onsite experience supporting some of the country’s most technically demanding brick cladding and lightweight brick systems through specialist cutting and façade preparation services.

“We cover the whole industry,” said Operations Manager Irine Klar. “From a backyard feature wall to large-scale restaurants and major commercial projects, and everything in between. We understand the impact of product delays and inaccurate supply on a project, so we make sure that bricklayers are working efficiently and effectively, without setbacks on site.”

That experience is best illustrated through the projects Steel Backed Brick has delivered. At Sydney’s Central Station, the company was contracted to cut 60,000 individual bricks into 10 different angle configurations ranging from just 2mm to 19mm to create an extraordinary animated artwork mural embedded into precast concrete panels. Designed by artist Bronwyn Bancroft, the installation depicts Aboriginal artwork that appears to materialise as trains pass by. The entire brick cutting scope was completed within a three-month turnaround.

At the Parkview Northwest Quarter project, Steel Backed Brick spent 18 months regrooving 180,000 brick faces and 45,000 corners to bring imported bricks into compliance with Australian standards, with zero tolerance for error. While at Seed Heritage in Pitt Street Mall, the team in-stalled a brick cladding facade designed to evoke the heritage aesthetic of a building predating the Westfield development surrounding it.

Steel Backed Brick works closely with recycled brick suppliers across New South Wales and Victoria, and ensures that every by-product of the cutting process, from brick offcuts to water and cutting blades, is recycled or repurposed.

For more information contact Steel Backed Brick, 36 Princes Street, Riverstone NSW 2765, email sales@sbbv.com.au, phone 02 9627 4116, website www.sbbv.com.au



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Flexbrick® Brings Strength, Speed, and Sustainability to an Urban Landmark

The new Ringwood Carpark for Maroondah City Council showcases how architecture, sustainability, and efficient construction can come together in a single cohesive design.

LOHAS Australia

Supplied by Lohas Australia, the Flexbrick® Terracotta Mesh System wraps the 1,890m² façade in a warm gradient of tones, creating a monolithic and visually distinctive exterior.

Lightweight and durable, Flexbrick® allowed rapid installation using 197 prefabricated panels, typically achieving 10–15 panels or 150–200m² per day. Panels arrived pre-assembled on pallets,
lifted into place with a forklift and winch, and fixed directly to the subframe.

The carpark’s curved façades and shifting levels required a system capable of adapting to complex geometry. Flexbrick®’s flexible textile structure provided smooth transitions around corners and changes in elevation. “Flexbrick allowed us to softly curve around corners as the façade wraps the building,” IBC notes.

Lohas Australia delivered flexible, prefabricated Flexbrick® façades enabling rapid installation and seamless curvature across complex geometry.

Façade System: Flexbrick®
Installer: Tensile
Products Used: Flexbrick® – Terracotta Colours: Blanco, Tenere, Venecia, Salmon, Rojo
Project Size: 1,890m² façade coverage

Sustainability is embedded in every stage. Flexbrick®’s creamic tiles are manufactured using biogas as the main fuel source, preventing CO2 emissions. Lightweight, compact shipments reduce transport impact, and the dry-joined system allows full recyclability and straightforward replacement of individual tiles.

Lohas Australia supported the project with shop drawings, panel modulation, installer training, and early onsite supervision. Working with CO.OP Studio, Lohas also developed the five-colour gradient façade that blends from Blanco to Rojo, reflecting the site’s urban character.

With its speed, sustainability and sculptural presence, the Ringwood Carpark stands as a benchmark project demonstrating the architectural and environmental advantages of Flexbrick® in modern urban design.

For more information contact Lohas Australia, phone 02 7259 1054, email info@lohasau.com, website www.lohasau.com

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