Exploring the Design and Function of Corbelled Brick Features

Normally, here on our website, we mostly talk about things that are core to our business and the services we provide for our customers here in Washington DC, such as historic masonry restoration. That generally includes things like historic repointing and mortar refurbishment.  Here on our blog though, once in a while, we have the opportunity to take a look at things that are a little bit different and unique. Often, those details that appear separate and different will show some insight into the work that we do here in contemporary times. Historic buildings have many similarities to the principles of contemporary construction and even historic work from times further back in history.

The picture below shows a contemporary brick building front with a series of alternating corbelled bricks that jut out from the building facade in an alternating and chaotic pattern.

As a side note, although this particular pattern appears to be somewhat random, it’s not actually random because there’s a trend and almost a type of gradient that can be seen as you step away from the building and look at it as a whole.  Towards the transition in the planar facings of the facades, although there is some inconsistency from one protruding brick to the next, there is still an overall trend and the bricks jut out farther towards that planar union. This is an example of how things can appear random but in this particular case they’re chaotic yet not actually random.

As you look more closely, you can see that the alternating protruding bricks are set in a header position while the adjacent bricks at each alternating placement are set in a stretcher position. None of the stretcher bricks protrude from the wall. Typical bricks are roughly about 7.58 inches wide, 2.25 inches tall and about 3.58 inches deep. You may notice, especially if some bricks need to be replaced in a historic wall, historic bricks are actually a bit wider then contemporary or modern bricks.

Here, when you think about the typical layout of a common double wythe brick wall configuration, it makes sense that none of the bricks in the stretcher position are set protruding from the planar face of the wall.  It’s important to understand, in corbeling, a brick cannot be set proportionately too far from its normal position without potentially causing the stabilization and or a loose or weak connection.  When bricks are corbelled in the stretcher position, they’re generally not set to potride from the remainder of the planar face of the facade by more than about 1/3 of the brick depth.

Here, at the tail end of the pattern of the protruding bricks, you can see there are just a few protruding bricks used in this section.  

The next picture below shows an area where there are more protruding bricks, but interestingly, if you look closely, you may notice that some of the bricks appear to protrude more than the adjacent sections adjacent or further to the left.

At the joint, where they are the highest amount of protruding bricks, it’s like they all stand out together as they meet from one side of the planar joint to the next.

Here, with all these interesting protruding bricks, the wall looks very modern and almost even futuristic a little bit, but they used a very traditional pigeonhole joint where the two planer the sides of the building meet.  One in particular challenges with these protruding bricks and also the pigeonhole joint, for example, is that both types of elements look interesting or different, but are extremely difficult to repoint or refurbish historic mortar. This building isn’t really old, it’s relatively contemporary, but at some point way down the road in decades to come, the building will need to be reported but here with these protruding bricks it will be difficult.

We can Help

Our company focuses on historic restoration more than modern building upkeep, maintenance, and construction, but our company understands both types of construction very well and a full picture well-rounded approach is needed in any niche in the construction industry.  Although we focus on historic restoration, repointing, tuckpointing and historic brick repair, our company also has technical knowledge and competencies in the areas of modern and contemporary construction as well as we become one of the leaders in that area of the market today. Understanding both historic and modern or contemporary construction is useful because both aspects help understand the challenges and potential solutions for challenges in building science and construction.

We can help with a variety of historic masonry restoration needs and upkeep, from modest tuckpointing and or repointing to complicated and extensive historic masonry restoration. Infinity Design Solutions is a historic restoration specialist contractor specializing in both historic masonry restoration such as tuckpointing our repointing, and brick repair. If you have questions about the architectural details or facade of your historic building in Washington DC, reach out and say hello and if we can help we’ll be glad to assist you.  You can email us or call us on the telephone at the following link: contact us here.