In our quest to create sustainable contemporary buildings that are rooted in context, we continue to explore the potential of a ubiquitous yet versatile building material -- the humble brick. Bricks are easy-to-manufacture, durable, and offer sound thermal insulation while possessing a distinctly tactile quality.
Being low-cost and easy to procure, lay and maintain, they allow for an exploration of myriad possibilities when designing with them. Having been used extensively in building of the past, the use of the material also evokes a traditional underpinning to modern construction.
Across different projects, we at Studio Lotus have recognized and tapped into its multiple characteristics, leveraging them in unique ways to create designs that celebrate the materiality and explore its contemporary applications.
At the House with a Brick Veil, the brief called for a calm oasis for a multigenerational family home in a chaotic Delhi neighbourhood. To enable this, we created a 345 mm thick brick wall that wraps around the building, working to filter out the heat and noise of the city. The wall is strategically punctured with openings and brick louvres that allow in light and create framed views of the surroundings.
Prioritising sustainability, we made the most of the material's in-situ manufacturing potential for the design of the Integrated Production Facility for Organic India in Lucknow. Due to the abundance of kilns and the ready availability of clay in the region, bricks were easily available locally, lowering the carbon footprint of the campus. Here, exposed brick masonry offered us the flexibility to determine the form and function of each building within the complex, even as they stood reminiscent of the Regency structures of colonial-era Lucknow.
<rt-red> Brick, therefore, proves to be a versatile and inherently resilient material, lending itself to varying expressions and embodying designs rooted in context and sustainability. <rt-red>
