About the Brick Development Association
The Brick Development Association represents the United Kingdom and Ireland's clay brick and paver industries. Our role is to ensure clay brick and pavers are recognised as the material of choice by architects, engineers, planners, specifiers, developers, landscapers, builders and property owners.
The Brick Development Association conducts lectures and CPDs with students and practising architects and engineers and through it's marketing arm, Think Brick, communicates the benefits of brick to a wider audience on-line, through advertising and PR and through the annual Brick Awards.
Brick has been a reliable construction material for centuries and has proven itself time and time again. There is no shortage of brick structures around the world still providing good service - just look at Brunel's stunning spanned bridge over the Thames at Maidenhead, or the brickwork at St Pancras.
Brick has long been a favourite among architects, developers and the public. Not only is it beautiful to look at, it has excellent sustainability credentials and it's hard to beat on price. On versatility and pure aesthetics, few rivals come even close. And because we have been building with brick for thousands of years, its technology is well understood. In structural terms, its robustness provides solutions to masonry designs where ‘high' strength is required.
Made from an abundant natural material, clay bricks have a much closer visual connection with their raw constituents than anything else you'll find in a modern building. Their warm and humanising character brings buildings to life with a wonderful mixture of subtle tones and textures. Bricks blend easily and naturally with their environment and complement other building materials. Furthermore, brickwork can be adapted as a building changes use.
Now the case for brick has been boosted by a top environmental rating. The BRE's latest Green Guide to Specification has assigned the highest possible accreditation A+ to every external wall it rated containing brick. This is positive proof that brick has a key role to play in meeting CSH targets.
It's not surprising therefore that the demand for brick buildings continues to increase and this is clearly evident in the continuing success of the annual Brick Awards. Organised by the Brick Development Association, the Awards, which first took place in 1977, is one of the top design and construction awards in the country - and the definitive showcase for what clay brick can do. Find out more about the Brick Awards here.
Brick Bulletin and our technical publications are freely available and PDFs can easily be downloaded. Publications that are too large to download can be ordered and we will post hard copies out within 5 working days. Click here to peruse our Publications library.