Architect and Builder Magazine South Africa May/June 2015 | Page 40

Generally, the aim of using face
bricks in contemporary design
is to warm up the façades with
natural textures combining well
with clean lines modern features.
The use of natural elements/
face brick in a building is to
create a sense of sub conscious
familiarity to humans apposed
to otherwise possibly “cold”
contemporary materials, not
to mention the fact that face
brick is maintenance free, thus
contributing to property value.
About 50,000 De Hoop Red
Smooth FBS were used for the
external facades and about 5,000
De Hoop Matt brown 50mm
pavers for some paving areas.
When asking Steven Thomas
(mlh), the architect, what his
appeal was to the face brick,
he answered that he used the
brick before, and that he prefers
using our local FBS standard
face bricks. “When face brick
comes to mind in a project, I
will only work with Corobrik
because of our excellent working
relationship and after sales
service. I understand that the
FBS standard bricks are not
perfect units (size and shape),
but this is one of the attractions
of the product, the fact that
it gives you a natural feel”.
Similarly to the face brick, the
reason for using De Hoop Matt
brown pavers was the fact that
they have used them before
and they were happy with the
result, and that the 2 product
compliments each other very well.

40

SITE PLAN

a certain refinement to the public spaces. Externally, the terraces were tiled with slip
resistant dark grey hammered tiles.
Internally, the public areas are tiled with rectified “Lappato” floor tiles throughout. The
feature wall tiles are rectified “Matt Blanco” profiled tiles, with rectified “Angel Blanco”
polished porcelain tiles and rectified “Matt Blanco” tiles being used on the other walls.
All the tiles used at 17 Park Lane were supplied by Tactile.
All the fitted joinery in the building was manufactured by PVM Interiors, to the tenant’s
specifications. As regards sanitaryware, Sterling “Seba” Semi table top basins were

Park Lane