Available from Daniel Robertson Australia , the Brick Inlay System is a revolutionary way to integrally cast thin brick into precast or tilt-up concrete, saving time and money over conventional field-applied brick.
Thin bricks are placed into individual plastic frames known as Brick Snaps. The frames containing the bricks are “snapped” together on the form bed – a process which is quick and which forms perfect courses of brick. Unskilled labour can snap together around 15sq m per man hour.
After reinforcing has been placed, concrete is then poured over the Brick Snap assembly and finished in the normal manner. When the panel is erected, the plastic snaps are stripped from the face and the panels are cleaned to remove concrete leakage. The end result is a rigid concrete panel with an integrally cast thin brick façade.
Recently Melbourne architects Nation Fender Katsalidis designed the Astorial apartment building in Carlton using the brick inlay system from Daniel Robertson. “I can see the advantages of the combination of precast concrete and clay products deliver to commercial building sites,” says Jim Albon, from Advanced Precast, the concrete panel manufacturer for the project. “You couldn’t have achieved a straighter line of work in the brick coursing and, importantly, there was no need for scaffolding on site nor for concerns about safety while the bricks were being laid nine storeys high.”
