ARE BRICKS STILL ACCEPTABLE IN MODERN ARCHITECTURE?

By Marty Eteng

It was at the crossover night of 2018/2019, and as customary for most people, every little space in Churches will be cramped into, in a bid to make penance of their sins for that year and also usher in the coming year prayerfully.

Sweeney, my bossom friend, who was the choir director of liberty Assembly Guzappe, was singing on the stage and rolling her voice to the admiration of the crowded Church.
Everyone was deep in worship as service progressed, with some demonstrating by jumping, kneeling or shading tears over the melodies. It was not long before Sweeney disappeared from the stage, which was unlike her. After other gospel ministers took turns, I decided to look for Sweeney whom I found at back of the building being pacified by another church member.

As I probed further, she revealed that her multimillion naira jewelry business has being gutted by fire at the market where her business was located and word just reached her while at the altar.

As she wept, she kept repeating”I should have listened to Engineer Elijah’s advice”
“Did he forewarn you about the fire?”
“He had advised me redevelop my shops with bricks in order to isolate myself from incessant market fires and I didn’t listen because I believed it was never going to happen to me. Now, I hear that my neighbor’s shop had survived. I’m finished” She started crying afresh.
“How is that possible?” I queried, surprised and moved to console her.
“Engineer Elijah designed the same building for my neighbor, that he proposed for me and I rejected it because I thought it was an old school style of building”.
“Wow!” I exclaimed.

That was the day I learnt about the fire resistant method of concrete and other fire resistant building materials and decided to research on them.

Bricks have been used as building materials for centuries. They can be used to construct walls, arches, floors, pavements, and other masonry and architectural fields.
They are durable and known for their unique features and patterns as they are quite adaptable and structurally appealing.
Bricks have over the years have been widely used in residential and commercial buildings with some experienced architects giving consideration to it use, when designing new and innovative structures that are meant to be modern, unique, and functional due to the legacy of being unmatched in qualities.

Some people I spoke with said they have never given thought to using bricks in building anything because they feel it is unaffordable and out of touch with the times.

I also decided to sought Engineer Elijah’s professional swipe on the subject.

“Over the years, concrete has been used to prevent fire disaster from destroying building properties, when they occur; which is why I make such proposals to my clients. It is proven that concrete can offer up to four hours fire resistance, well beyond the periods often stipulated by the Building Regulations for life safety. And by providing an effective shield, it holds back the spread of flames, reducing the risk to people, property and the environment”, he explained.
Going forward, Engr Elijahl continued, “There are three main reasons why concrete has been categorised as one of the most fire-resistant materials;  concrete is non-combustible, it’s non-toxic and it has very low thermal conductivity and I dare to describe it as virtually fireproof”.

Talking to a building developer in Abuja, Architect Zion John Nambiam, who at the moment is building with bricks, he threw more insight, “Of a truth, building with bricks has immense benefits but it is more expensive compared with blocks, and I will still keep advising home owners who can afford it to consider it because good things don’t come cheap”, he concluded.

With this eye-opening revelations on the viability of concrete in mordern architecture, we reached out to Malam Ibrahim Abu, a block industry owner in Koroduma 1 village, who has been in the business for over 30 years to see if people actually patronize bricks.
” Why not?”, he enthused. “I have never stopped fabrication of, or left my different sites without bricks, they are always in high demand, especially by government establishments. Some private institutions don’t slack from patronizing us because they know the many benefits of building with bricks. You should check the aesthetics of constructions done with bricks, it stands out , any day. I urge anyone with good taste to try out bricks. They are not out of fashion in building in anyway.” He concluded.

Looking into the building industry it appears that some builders are not aware about the presence of bricks designs, as the use of blocks which are not fire or water resistant are more in use. But with these awareness, it will be expedient for stakeholders to bring more education and enlightening ideas on the many values accrued to building with bricks.
As it stands, the ancient stone remains a pearl in modern architecture and more people should be taught take advantage of it’s various economic values.