Best in brick: 7 stunning building façades made with brick [slideshow]

1. Farm Credit Services of America Corporate Office Building 2
Omaha, Neb.
The Clark Enersen Partners; Sampson Construction

This project is an expansion connected via skywalk to an existing corporate headquarters. It seeks to reinforce the agriculture-inspired concepts of the original building (2002) that reflect the mission and culture of the client. The design of the building and site work together to connect occupants not only to their immediate surroundings but also to the client’s many locations throughout the Midwest. The new 77,000-square-foot facility for 225 employees features an open work plan and abundant use of natural light to promote a healthy work environment. Conscience effort was made to use local materials, such as brick, in unique ways to contribute to abstract agricultural concepts. 

2. Cougar Woods Dining Hall
Houston
PageSoutherlandPage; SpawGlass; Haynes Whaley Associates; Walter P Moore

Cougar Woods Dining Hall is the newest and only free-standing dining facility on the University of Houston main campus. The 25,000-square-foot building is a hub for the adjacent on-campus student housing and also serves as an entry marker to the central portion of campus from perimeter housing sites and the surrounding neighborhood.

On an undeveloped tract at the edge of the interior campus, the building is located to maximize retention of the existing old growth trees. With seating for 600 people, the building is a focal point for student life with shaded exterior dining adjacent to major pedestrian pathways.

The $6.7M building, which is targeting Silver LEED certification, is an entry marker to the central portion of campus from scattered perimeter housing sites and surrounding neighborhood. Materials of brick, glass and precast shell limestone recall the existing palette of the UH campus.

3. University of Pennsylvania Law School
Philadelphia
Kennedy & Violich Architecture, Ltd; Hunter Roberts Construction Group; Halkin Architectural Photography

The new Golkin Hall completes Penn Law’s architectural vision for a unified and interdisciplinary urban law campus and advances innovative cross-disciplinary legal education. The building establishes a civic scaled public entry on Sansom Street which opens onto the central law courtyard, connecting for the first time, the larger University with the School's campus.

The site is adjacent to the monumental 19th-century Georgian-style brick Silverman Hall, the school’s former main entry and existing public face. In relation to that legacy, the new project uses masonry to define the image of a 21st Century Law School – one in which collaboration and inter-disciplinary study play an important role. Golkin Hall is designed as both building and bridge: it links three existing Law buildings at several levels through new bridges, roof terraces, and a 2,000sf renovated student lounge.

As the new entry to the Penn Law campus, Golkin Hall plays a central role in its administration, academic, and social life. The ground floor includes the Law School’s executive offices; the lower level includes a 350-seat auditorium, moot-court room, and student center; and the upper two floors house faculty and business offices, all connected by a light-filled four-story atrium.

5. New Settlement Community Campus
Bronx
Dattner Architects; Turner Construction Company; Edelman Sultan Knox Wood / Architects; David Sundberg (photographer)

The 172,000 square foot New Settlement Community Campus occupies a busy urban block in the Bronx, NY. The facility houses three schools for 1,100 Pre-K to 12th graders, including children with special needs, with 56 classrooms, a cafeteria, a 350-seat auditorium, and a library; the community center serves the neighborhood and includes a pool, dance studio, green roof, and multipurpose spaces—all shared with the school.

The library occupies a prominent position and cantilevers to provide shelter for the school's main entrance. A two-story red brick commons wing parallels an elevated subway train and intersects a four-story buff brick classroom wing that bends away from the street. The contrasting brick colors and course patterns distinguish the two wings. A graduated vertical pattern of darker projecting brick articulates the classroom wing's cream-colored brick façade, which is perpendicular to the elevated train to minimize noise.

The interplay of massing, materials, and patterning creates scale and interest for the block-long building. A horizontal glazed opening reveals the community center entry and opens the pool below to the neighborhood. The brick masonry and cast stone echo the adjacent neighborhood buildings.

6. Warren Cultural Center
Greenfield, Iowa
INVISION Planning Architecture Interiors; Lang Construction Group, Inc.

The Warren Opera House and Hetherington Blocks of Greenfield stand as well-preserved examples of Iowa’s commercial architecture from the late 19th century. The interior arrangement of the opera house block, featuring entertainment, commercial and residential space, was typical of the state’s small-town opera houses. The project, completed on an aggressive timeline, restored three buildings following the Secretary of Interior’s Standards for Historic Preservation.

7. Triangle Brick Co. Corporate Office and Design Center
Durham, N.C.
Clark Nexsen; Pearce Brinkley Cease + Lee; Barnhill Contracting Company

The Triangle Brick Corporate Office, Design Center and Brick Garden were constructed to be much more than a typical office building, rather a testament to the beauty and architectural appeal of brick. 

Read about the 2013 Brick in Architecture Awards