Perhaps there is no other country in the world where any fact from private life immediately becomes public domain, causing a long, unabated resonance. For a long time, insular England dominated entire continents, absorbing the best achievements from all over the world and unobtrusively becoming an indisputable role model. Palaces and castles on the outskirts of London are more expensive than in places much more comfortable in terms of climate …
Prestigious real estate in London is available to a narrow circle of oligarchs, and, as a rule, not of British origin. However, the wider the interest in English architecture, the more widespread is the desire to create something “in the English style”.
Since the Great Fire of London in 1666 in the capital of Great Britain only capital development is allowed. The main building material to this day is brick. This production is very widely represented throughout the territory of Foggy Albion, at the same time Britain is the largest importer of bricks in Europe, since the construction market is developing here very dynamically, and demand often exceeds supply.
Until recently, English brick in Russia was extremely poorly represented. The main reason for this is the complexity of logistics compared to continental Europe, the difference in the euro and pound sterling rates, the lack of verified data on what exactly will be in demand by the end consumer. After all, ideas about England are extremely mythologized by cinema and television, but in reality the architecture of Great Britain developed in parallel with the continental one. Brick production was improved according to general laws. Local craftsmen adapted the brick produced to the landscape as much as possible, of course, this gave its effect. To the same extent, brick manufacturers followed the needs of consumers, mastering the formats, colors and quality criteria demanded by the market.
Quite often, English bricks have a high level of water absorption, but at the same time they have increased frost resistance. This combination of properties is not typical for Europe, where, as a rule, high frost resistance is characteristic of ultra-dense clinker, the undoubted advantage of which is increased resistance to pollution.
But the English brick, produced at the Ravenhead factory, which is part of the IBSTOCK concern, with 9% water absorption withstands 200 freeze-thaw cycles!
Now in Russia, two types of English bricks from the IBSTOCK concern of the Dorket Head and Leicester plants with “critical” water absorption levels of 16 and 25%, respectively, are being tested for frost resistance. To date, the samples have withstood 150 cycles without any damage. Not all European factories can boast of such frost resistance, and for highly porous products, these are generally excellent indicators. It should be noted that a large number of pores simultaneously increases the heat and sound insulation properties of ceramics, which also increases its consumer characteristics.
English brick is presented in a very wide, as a rule, saturated color range. Yellow, red-brown, even blue-black shades can be considered traditional for different parts of Foggy Albion. Of course, the color can be uniform or variegated. The British still use field firing, in which the kiln is erected for each batch, and the final product has a variety of color shades. There are handmade bricks at IBSTOCK factories, which masons produce in the old way, driving a lump of clay into a wooden mold. But in England there is also a large-format facing brick, a girder-format brick, a shaped brick of unusual shapes, which is unusual for us, but popular at home.
Thanks to its own logistics system, the KIRILL Firm was able to make all the variety of English bricks available to the Russian consumer. This brick has many inherent advantages.
If you build a house in the English style, now in the Moscow region its walls can be faced with bricks fired in Britain from local clay. Also, English brick will become uncontested for those who consider English quality to be the reference and do not accept compromises..
Well, in any case, in terms of price-quality ratio, English brick is on a par with well-known brands of continental Europe.
The English collection of the IBSTOCK factories of the Kirill company consists of 257 bricks of different shades and the company's managers will be happy to select the customer and the architect the right solution for any project.
For true gentlemen - only the best!
