Restoration sees clay brick buildings live on in spectacular style

[edit] New life for old bricks

Regenerated clay brick buildings are an increasing source of inspiration for designers tasked with bringing new life and commercial purpose to sites of historical interest. This is never more evident than redevelopment projects at Norton Folgate in London, and Shrewsbury Flaxmill Maltings in Shropshire. Let’s look at how each refurbishment made use of the existing clay brick infrastructure – rather than demolish it – to bring the sites into the 21st Century in inventive, sustainable style, with their original character retained.

Much old brickwork, where it has been properly detailed and soundly built, will need virtually no maintenance over long periods of its life. But it is inevitable that the rehabilitation and restoration of older properties will often involve repairs to or adaptations of brickwork. In our push towards net zero, we have seen a nationwide focus on refurbishment over demolition, and is why a thorough understanding of the alteration and repair of brickwork has never been more relevant.

Successful restoration hinges on identifying structural issues early and taking a thoughtful approach to repairs and alterations. Done well, it allows heritage buildings to be revitalised with modern purpose while retaining their unique architectural character.

[edit] Norton Folgate example

A prime example of heritage-led regeneration, Norton Folgate comprises three urban blocks and sits within the Elder Street Conservation Area where it occupies a prominent position within The City Fringe between the City of London and Shoreditch. While the Conservation Area is small, there are dramatic changes in character from one street to the next. The master-plan has been developed to respond to this mixed character, bringing vacant or underused buildings back into use and reconnecting and enhancing the public realm.

Instead of implementing a blanket strategy, the master-plan employs a building-by-building approach to the retained existing buildings, utilising restoration, refurbishment, extension, remodelling, and façade retention to breathe new life into the architecture. Sensitively designed new buildings have been introduced in a palette of materials, including brick, which was selected for its robustness, quality, and appropriateness to the Conservation Area’s character.

Reflecting Norton Folgate’s varied architectural character, four different architectural practices were brought together to diversify the architectural approach and style. Allford Hall Monaghan Morris (AHMM) was appointed as master-planner and designed three buildings: Blossom Yard & Studios, Nicholls and Clarke, and Loom Court. Stanton Williams, Morris + Company, and DSDHA designed Elder Yard and Studios, 15 Norton Folgate, and 16 Blossom Street respectively, with East leading the public realm strategy.

A comprehensive study of the local context was undertaken at the planning application stage to understand and develop the material palettes for the buildings, with the architects liaising and working together to produce a coherent approach to the master-plan materiality. The study showed that there was a wide variety of brick tones in the locality; a variety which is evident in the development – there is a pale Marziale, warm Lindfield Multi, warm Danehill Yellow, red Floren Gothiek and a dark Nelissen Ferro. The respective bricks have all been selected to respond to their context, both retained and new, and to also work together across the development to form a coherent yet diverse new neighbourhood.

Whilst some buildings use brick-faced precast elements and some traditional brickwork, all share the principle of careful detailing to celebrate the brick used. This is evident in the clean, calm lines and reveals on Elder Yard, the piers and textured sawtooth spandrels on Blossom Yard, the dark brick warehouse piers of 16 Blossom Street and the clean articulation of the red brick to 13/14 Norton Folgate. The proportion and scale of the brick façades has been carefully considered to reflect the warehouse heritage of the site, but also to display the brick in the best possible way. The result of using the clay bricks is to instantly anchor the masterplan into the urban context, linking City to Shoreditch, to provide a new frame of reference that encourages people to use and re-adopt the area.

[edit] Flaxmill Maltings example

Like Norton Folgate, the restoration of Shrewsbury Flaxmill Maltings, the world’s first cast iron-framed building, is testament to traditional craftsmanship. Originally built in 1797 as a steam powered flax mill, the building was repurposed as a maltings from 1897 to 1987 before falling into dereliction.

In 2005, Historic England bought the site and partnered with Shropshire Council and Friends of the Flaxmill Maltings, to secure a £20.7 million grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund in 2017 for the restoration of the Grade I listed Main Mill and the Grade II listed Kiln, repurposing it as a vibrant business hub and heritage destination.

Croft Building & Conservation worked on a comprehensive programme of repair, reuse and retrofitting, combining modern sustainable practice with traditional materials and over 80 skilled craftspeople.

The original five storey Main Mill building, which had a frame comprising three rows of cast iron columns, with beams extending between them and brick arches between the beams forming the floors, had serious structural flaws and required significant strengthening measures. Embedded timber had also rotted, causing walls to delaminate. This compromised the structure and so began a thirteen-step plan to safely remove the timber and reinstate the brick elevations.

The walls were thermally upgraded with wood fibre insulation and finished with lime plaster, and the existing masonry was repointed with lime mortar to ensure that the moisture wicked away. The Main Mill was originally built with ‘great bricks’ which were approximately one-third larger than standard bricks to reduce the burden of the 18th century brick tax. These were cleaned off and re-laid in lime mortar.

Northcot made 90,000 bespoke oversized bricks in two sizes (75 & 93mm) for three different blends, all hand thrown and kiln fired using traditional methods and weathered to match both colour and texture of the originals. Their size (93mm) required significant hand throwing skills from a team of experienced master brick-makers.

The new bricks were used primarily for the reopening of 110 Flax Mill era windows (bricked up or made smaller when it was a maltings), and for repairing gaps in the floor-plates, which were created when the maltings machinery was removed. Special brick squints were made for the splayed window reveals to reduce dust and waste.

Whilst reinstating former window openings, Georgian brick pavers were discovered and skilfully re-used to form the windowsills. New bricks were also used to repair the roof line and where the Main Mill joined the Engine Houses, Jubilee Tower and Kiln structures.

These landmark projects demonstrate the power of restoration to honour the past while shaping the future. With their sensitive use of clay brick, both Norton Folgate and Flaxmill Maltings demonstrate how historic buildings can be adapted for modern use without losing their character. As the industry embraces sustainable construction, restoring and repurposing our built legacy isn’t just a design choice, it’s a vital pathway to meeting net zero goals with integrity and imagination.

This article appears in the AT Journal issue 154 Spring 2025 as "Restoration sees clay brick buildings live on in spectacular style" and was written by Robert Flello, CEO, Brick Development Association (BDA).

--CIAT

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