But what exactly he is now creating in this workshop is not entirely clear. Objects like "The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of a Living One" (the famous tiger shark in formalin) of 1991 and other preserved corpses, as well as installations from pills, he promised not to create anymore and turned from canvas and oil … In any case, "Formaldehyde House" Hirst was built, and it is located near the artist's own residence in the city of Stroud in the British county of Gloucestershire. The project of an exotic workshop for working with toxic substances was completed and implemented by the architectural bureau Designscape (at the same time, the same architects built next to another, "research" workshop, combined with a small exhibition hall).
The outline of the plan of Hirst's "Formaldehyde House" resembles a model knife: a large triangle with an acute external angle - about 30 degrees - is attached to the square. This shape is dictated by the shape of the site allocated for the construction, but the architects turned an acute angle into one of the main plastic effects: from some points the volume begins to seem flat, consisting of one thin white wall, that is, almost paper.
The effect of sterile whiteness is the main component of the image of a workshop-laboratory, in which everything is designed for the safety of working with toxic compounds necessary for a taxidermist. Inside there is a voluminous laboratory workshop, warehouses and two refrigerator rooms. From the outside, the building also resembles a refrigerator, however, it is quite elegant and very carefully finished - Hirst turned out to be a demanding customer and demanded maximum quality.
Therefore, the architects surrounded the interior walls of the laboratory (consisting of a steel frame filled in the main part with masonry of concrete blocks) with a cover made of white glazed brick IBSTOCK, the clean, shiny surface of which not only symbolizes the sterility of the sterility of the chemical laboratory, but also helps to maintain correct thermoregulation of the building.
The thickness of the masonry is half a brick, but in order to achieve the ideal surface, many subtleties were required. First of all, the architects made visible joints between the bricks thinner than usual - four millimeters instead of the traditional ten. Meanwhile, the distance between the bedding part of the bricks inside the wall is even thicker - twelve millimeters, in other words, the front part of each brick expands towards the surface of the facade, providing thin and precisely calculated seams of the facade. Inside, the bricks narrow, and the mortar between them becomes larger, which not only makes the wall masonry more reliable, but also allows better control of temperature deformations.
A special mortar for masonry and a mortar for jointing were developed: their plastic lime compositions allow a sufficient range of movement, but exclude splitting due to thermal expansion. Thus, the need for expansion joints in masonry has almost disappeared - more precisely, there are only two vertical expansion joints on the facade, hidden behind louvered panels. Incidentally, the white louvred panels also hide the vents, which provide constant natural ventilation to the toxic laboratory. Striped lattices are neatly inscribed into the surface of the walls and almost do not violate the monolithic integrity of the form of the white volume of the laboratory - rather, they even add some variety to its laconicism.
Especially for the "Formaldehyde House", a large number of glazed bricks were made to order: slope bricks, the width of which could not be kept exactly half the thickness, and rounded bricks, forming an acute corner of the volume. The architects worked closely with Ibstock to design the shape and size of all the shaped bricks. She offers a choice of seven basic colors of glazed bricks of the Color series … Glazed bricks of this brand are available in seven basic colors of the Color series and in the size 215x102x65 mm. with a glazed surface, as soon as spoon, spoon and poke.
Glazed bricks of the Color series can be made to order in almost any color of the RAL table. In addition to standard bricks, the Dutch make curly elements standard and free forms to order, various details of borders, platbands, external window sills, railings, tops.
Glazed brick retains all the advantages of ordinary ceramic bricks: it consists of natural components, does not burn or decay, and has high strength. And thanks to the glaze, it does not absorb moisture and remains frost-resistant. Efflorescence does not form on its glassy surface; over time, mosses and lichens do not begin to corrode it. Even with constant dampness, mold does not appear on the glazed brick. On the contrary, the rain easily washes away dust and soot from the walls lined with it, each time returning them to a radiant appearance.
In Russia, IBSTOCK glazed bricks are supplied by the Kirill company.
