When designing a building, choosing the suitable cladding material is crucial. The external appearance of a structure not only contributes to its aesthetic appeal but also plays a significant role in protecting it from various environmental factors. In recent years, brick cladding has become increasingly popular among architects, specifiers, contractors, and developers due to its durability, weather resistance, and low maintenance requirements. Brick cladding on external walls, also known as brick wall cladding, offers many other benefits, including a variety of colours and textures to match other elements of a nearby building and improve the appearance of buildings.
Brick cladding offers many benefits, making it an ideal choice for many design projects. It provides high-quality finishes with different styles and colours to suit architectural concepts. Additionally, brick cladding systems offer easier installation than traditional bricks, saving costs and build time.
The types of brick cladding available
As one of the leading suppliers of brick cladding solutions in the UK, Aquarian Cladding Systems offers three exceptional brick cladding systems: Gebrik, MechSlip, and NaturAL-X. Let’s take a closer look at each system:
Gebrik brick cladding
Gebrik is an innovative, panelised brick slip cladding system. This B-rated cladding system combines stunning aesthetics with efficient installation. Perfect for buildings under 11 meters, Gebrik boasts more than 700 natural clay brick finishes, offering complete design freedom. Gebrik’s unique “stitching slip” method uses pre-cast lightweight panels made up of real clay bricks, each around 1m² and containing 50 (depending on bond pattern) factory-made brick slips. These panels attach directly to masonry, timber, or steel frames with simple mechanical fixings. High-performance adhesive creates a continuous bond pattern across the facade, eliminating the need for cavities, closers, brick ties, and channels. This translates to enhanced design flexibility for architects and faster, more cost-effective construction for builders.
MechSlip brick cladding
MechSlip is an alternative high-quality brick slip cladding system offered by Aquarian Cladding Systems, which replicates the appearance of traditional masonry construction while being quick and straightforward to install. The tested and classified A1-rated cladding solution uses mechanical fixings rather than adhesive bonding methods, combining real bricks cut to form grooved slips with a lightweight 6063T6-grade aluminium secondary rail support system. The natural clay brick slips can be mechanically fixed to any substrate at any height via an engineered metal support system with 10mm vertical and horizontal mortar joints. The system is ideal for architects and contractors looking to achieve a through-coloured brick façade with a wide range of natural colours, styles and finishes. The MechSlip system is supplied with slips, rails, and bracketry, making it suitable for both internal and external uses. Additionally, it is a more consistent and predictable product with excellent customer service and a lifetime guarantee.
NaturAL-X brick cladding
NaturAL-X is another innovative A1-rated ‘brick slip in rail’ cladding system that combines the beauty of profiled natural clay brick slips with lightweight aluminium panels, with the natural clay brick slips secured within the rails. Thanks to cutting-edge technology, NaturAL-X allows architects and designers to design with any brick, colour, and texture thanks to a groundbreaking Digital Engobing process within its Creativity Range. The advanced process begins with a 3D scanning procedure and then a revolutionary technique that involves applying a liquid clay engobe to brick slips before firing, preserving the essence of authenticity and creativity of working with clay and allowing any colour, any texture and any finish for infinite potential to meet design requirements and giving architects and designers an unprecedented canvas to bring their visionary brick designs to life and recreate any brick finish.
Why choose brick cladding?
After years of innovation and newer technologies, brick cladding has gained a reputation and is now a popular choice for external walls on commercial projects in recent years due to its numerous advantages over other types of different materials, cladding styles and traditional, conventional brickwork.
Durability
Bricks’ inherent qualities and natural weathering resistance mean brick cladding systems are known for their longevity and ability to withstand and offer protection against harsh environmental conditions such as extreme temperatures and water resistance in the event of heavy rainfall without deteriorating over time.
Speedy installation
Brick cladding ensures a seamless finish and significantly reduces installation time. Conventional bricklaying with mortar is weather-dependent and can be slow and unpredictable, while brick cladding systems offer a quick and easy solution.
Reduced build costs
As well as reducing the construction process, brick cladding means reduced prelim costs, including replacing scaffolding with mechanical access, greater flexibility of build sequence and less risk of programme over-run.
Design flexibility
With countless styles available ranging from modern, sleek finishes through rustic appearances mimicking reclaimed brickwork, brick cladding gives architects complete creative freedom to achieve their desired aesthetic and intricate designs that would be challenging with conventional brick.
Energy Efficiency
Brick cladding systems contribute towards energy efficiency goals by providing excellent external wall insulation and thermal insulation properties, reducing heat loss in winter and heat gain in summer – resulting in reduced energy consumption for heating or cooling purposes.
Sustainability
As a sustainable cladding material, brick slips require less raw material and energy and significantly lower greenhouse gas emissions to manufacture. In contrast, their lightweight design and reduced material volume mean fewer deliveries to the site and fewer transportation-related carbon emissions, making them a greener choice for construction projects.
Low Maintenance
Unlike other cladding materials that require regular painting or sealing, brick cladding requires minimal maintenance due to its natural resistance to fading, cracking, or warping over time – ensuring a long-lasting appearance with minimal effort.
Choose the best types of brick cladding for your project with Aquarian Cladding
When choosing the right types of cladding for your next project, different types of brick cladding offers numerous benefits that make it an ideal choice. Aquarian Cladding Systems provides a premium choice of three high-quality brick cladding systems – Gebrik, MechSlip, and NaturAL-X – each offering unique features and advantages suitable for various design requirements. Our Approved Installer Network assures contractors that installers have been through a vetting and training process so they can install their brick cladding system of choice, such as brick panels, according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
Whether you’re looking for traditional aesthetics with modern installation methods or contemporary finishes with durability and weather resistance – Aquarian’s range of brick slip solutions has got you covered!
To discuss your next project, call our expert and friendly team at 0808 223 9080 or contact us today.