Details
Location: Sheffield
Brick Manufacturers: Forterra PLC
Brick Names: Dark Multi Smooth
Architect: BondBryan
Brickwork Contractor: Malborough Brickwork Contractors
About the project
In 2016, Sheffield Hallam University gained a new home for the city’s Institute of Education: the £19m Charles Streetbuilding. Set between a main road and the Cultural Industries Quarter conservation area, it responds to a sensitiveurban context of historic lanes and listed buildings dating back to the 1700s.
Following a national design competition, architectural firm Bond Bryan was appointed to create a landmarkeducation building that would strengthen the cityscape while bringing teacher education, research and social spacetogether in one state-of-the-art facility.
Design for the community
The design turns the idea of a historic lane into an engaging public route through the building, linking the Universitycampus directly with Sheffield city centre.
This public right of way is central to the project’s legacy. It allows students and members of the public to share thespace, while the building has become an anchor for wider regeneration of the campus and surrounding area.
It has helped attract further investment, create public-friendly spaces and support ongoing revitalisation of the citycentre. Public art projects and collaborations have also strengthened the relationship between the University andthe community.
Bespoke bricks
For the façade, Bond Bryan wanted a contemporary interpretation of traditional brick that would complementneighbouring buildings. This includes the Grade II*-listed former cutlery and tool factory Butcher Works – an icon ofSheffield’s steel-making history with multi-tonal brickwork and no single dominant colour.
Working with Forterra and Taylor Maxwell, the team specified Butterley Dark Multi Smooths and Specials bricks,manufactured at Forterra’s Wilnecote factory in Staffordshire, in Flemish bond.
They helped create a seamless relationship with the red multi-brick appearance of the surrounding conservationarea.
The façade is further defined by 20mm projecting headers with single and double cant brickwork on the upper twostoreys. This gives depth to the tall elevation while keeping the building harmonious with its setting.
The pattern also reflects the wrought iron grilles on Butcher Works. Charles Street is connected to the adjacentArundel Building by the Toast Rack Bridge, designed by Sheffield Hallam honorary doctor Corin Mellor, whosemetalwork intersects with the tessellated brick patterns and reinforces the area’s industrial past.
More than just aesthetics
The bricks were chosen not only for appearance, but also durability. The detailed façade demanded a robustmaterial to withstand the English climate and sit confidently beside historic neighbours.
Made from Etruria marl clay, associated with durable bricks used on railways and waterways since the Victorian era,the brickwork has retained its quality and character over the past decade.
Its robust specification means it will continue to support the building’s architectural contribution for decades tocome.
The Charles Street building was crowned Education Project of the Year at the BDAs in 2017.
Testimonial from Duncan Hogg, Bond Bryan:
“Forterra’s Dark Multi Smooth bricks were fundamental to the project’s architectural language, giving the façadedepth, consistency and richness. Their smooth finish, subtle variation and Specials enabled a robust, refinedbuilding that responds sensitively to Sheffield’s historic brick context.”
