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The seven brick-building design trends identified by Building Design + Construction are variations in pattern and orientation, gray or white color palettes, brick used on complex forms, textured units, contrasting colors and courses, shaped face brick, and brick ornament. The source presented these approaches on July 7, 2014, through projects recognized in the Brick Industry Association’s Brick in Architecture Awards. “Emerging” is therefore the article’s historical label, not evidence that these ideas are still new or widespread in 2026.
Taken together, the examples show brick doing more than covering a flat wall. Designers used it to signal movement, relate a new building to its neighborhood or campus, negotiate corners and curves, and express institutional identity. The project rationales below are reported descriptions, not independent measurements of energy, acoustic, glare, or durability performance.
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What are the seven brick-building design approaches?
The original roundup is best read as a catalog of visual and formal strategies rather than a ranked list or a market survey. Its order is retained below, and the projects and dimensions are reported as they appeared in the 2014 article; the measurements have not been independently rechecked.
- Vary pattern depth and orientation.
- Use gray and white shades.
- Exploit brick’s flexibility in color, shape, and form.
- Vary texture.
- Contrast brick colors and course patterns.
- Use shaped face brick.
- Use brick for motifs and ornament.
How can changing brick depth and orientation create movement?
Changing the plane of individual bricks gives a wall a changing shadow pattern and can make a repetitive façade read as directional rather than static. The source’s example is Building 2 of the Farm Credit Services of America Corporate Office in Omaha, designed by Clark Enersen Partners.
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Two brick colors were set at different depths and orientations to evoke wind moving through a wheat field. That description matters because the effect comes from coordination: color establishes the broad field, while projection and rotation supply the visual “wind.” A designer considering this approach must resolve the module, mortar joints, corner transitions, and the way the pattern reads from the street as well as at close range.
The article also says the building’s west façade was intended to reduce late-day glare and that openings filtered natural light. Those are stated design intentions, not a verified glare or daylight result. The project is reported at 77,000 square feet. A similar concept can be developed with a restrained palette and shallow relief, but the final pattern should be documented in elevations and details so installers can distinguish each orientation.
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Light, neutral masonry can make a large wall feel calmer and can help a new building sit alongside older construction. At the University of Houston, Cougar Woods Dining Hall used lighter solid masonry walls on its southern and western elevations. The article describes that choice as a passive approach and says the walls helped protect those elevations from the sun; it does not provide measured temperature or energy data. The dining hall is reported at 25,000 square feet.
A different context appears at the Wormley School Rowhouses in Georgetown. Neutral colors were selected to match the neighborhood while retaining historic character. Here, color is a contextual tool: the objective is continuity rather than a deliberately conspicuous landmark. A project team should study adjacent brick in daylight, account for weathering and mortar color, and confirm that any historic-district requirements are addressed before selecting a sample.
Gray and white do not have to mean a single uniform field. Subtle changes in tone, bond, or joint profile can supply depth without competing with neighboring buildings. Because the article reports design intent rather than current product availability, a specification should be based on current manufacturer samples and documentation, not on a decade-old color name.
How does brick’s flexibility support curved, angled, or privacy-focused walls?
Brick can follow more than a straight façade when the design coordinates geometry, unit selection, and detailing. The Hendricks Regional Health YMCA in Avon, Indiana, used brick on straight, angled, and curved walls. Its two-tone scheme combined deep brown and buff brick.
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The source also says brick was used where noise and privacy were concerns. That is a reported reason for the material choice, not proof of a particular sound-reduction rating. Acoustic performance depends on the complete wall assembly, openings, joints, and interior finishes, so those requirements need separate documentation.
This approach is useful when a building has several scales of form: a straight public frontage, a curved gathering space, or angled elements that direct circulation. Color can reinforce those changes, but too many radii or abrupt transitions increase coordination risk. Early drawings should show coursing around curves, locations of movement joints, and how the two colors meet at returns and openings.
What does varied brick texture add to a campus or addition?
Texture changes how light catches a wall and how close a new elevation feels to an established material palette. At the University of Pennsylvania Law School, Golkin Hall used sand-molded brick in a Flemish bond pattern. The article identifies the stated goal as connecting the addition to the campus’s existing material character.
Sand-molded surfaces and a Flemish bond can make a wall feel more tactile than a smooth, repetitive running bond. The strategy is not simply “choose a rough brick”: the unit surface, bond, joint profile, and surrounding masonry all contribute to the reading of the façade. Mock-ups are especially valuable where an addition meets older construction, because color and texture can look different at full scale than in a small sample.
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How do contrasting colors and course patterns organize a large complex?
Contrasting brick can separate parts of a building while a graduated course pattern adds hierarchy within one of those parts. The New Settlement Campus in the Bronx used a red-brick commons wing beside a buff-brick classroom wing. On the classroom wing, the article describes a graduated pattern of darker projecting brick.
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This strategy gives a large complex a readable address. A visitor can identify the commons and classroom wings by color before seeing signs, while the projecting courses provide a finer-grained layer of scale. The project is reported at 172,000 square feet and serves 1,000 PK–12 students.
Transitions need careful control. The design team should decide whether the color change occurs at a clear structural or programmatic break, how the bond aligns across the junction, and whether projecting units affect flashings, windows, or maintenance access. A pattern that is legible in an elevation can become visually noisy if its spacing is not coordinated with openings and floor levels.
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When are shaped face bricks worth specifying?
Shaped face brick can reduce the need to approximate a complex corner with multiple small cuts or mismatched pieces. Fountaindale Public Library in Bolingbrook, Illinois, is the source’s example: Nagle Hartray Architecture used one modular, hinge-shaped face brick for 28 inside and outside corner conditions.
The value is both visual and organizational. A repeatable shaped unit can give inside and outside corners a consistent profile, and one module may simplify the design language across many locations. It does not eliminate coordination. The team still has to verify the unit’s dimensions, allowable tolerances, bond, mortar joints, backup-wall geometry, and interfaces with flashings and openings with the manufacturer and masonry contractor.
Because the available data does not provide a current product line or performance specification, “hinge-shaped” should be treated as a project example, not a generic product recommendation. For a contemporary façade, request current technical data and samples, and confirm that the proposed unit is suitable for every listed condition before drawings are finalized.
How can brick carry motifs and ornament without becoming applied decoration?
Brick can form an architectural motif when the pattern is integrated with the building’s massing and openings. At the Kent R. Hance Chapel in Lubbock, Texas, the source describes brick in the bell tower, curved gabled parapet walls, and a façade pattern. The chapel is reported at 7,000 square feet.
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These elements use masonry as a shaped and symbolic material rather than a neutral skin. A bell tower can make the pattern visible at a distance; a curved parapet can turn a roofline into a recognizable silhouette; and a façade motif can establish an entrance or sacred focus. The success of an ornamental approach depends on proportion, repetition, and how details meet at corners and terminations.
Ornament also increases the number of details that must be drawn and built. Schedules should identify special units, pattern modules, reveals, and transitions, while the masonry design should show how water is managed behind and around projecting or curved areas. The article celebrates the visual result but does not supply construction details or durability data.
Which of these ideas relate to function, and which are primarily visual?
All seven approaches begin with appearance, but the source attaches several to a stated practical or contextual purpose. The Omaha façade’s depth and orientation were intended to address late-day glare and filter natural light. Cougar Woods’ lighter walls were described as helping protect sun-exposed elevations. The YMCA example placed brick where noise and privacy were concerns. Neutral rowhouse colors addressed neighborhood character, while Golkin Hall’s texture addressed campus continuity.
These statements should guide questions, not substitute for analysis. If glare, daylight, solar heat, privacy, or acoustics is a project requirement, the team should define measurable criteria and evaluate the complete wall and opening assemblies. A brick pattern alone cannot establish compliance or performance.
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1Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches2Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems3Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute| Approach | Primary visual effect | Reported project rationale | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Depth and orientation | Movement, shadow, changing relief | Wind-field expression; intended glare and light filtering | Farm Credit Services of America Corporate Office Building 2, Omaha |
| Gray and white shades | Light, restrained massing | Sun protection described as passive; neighborhood continuity | Cougar Woods Dining Hall; Wormley School Rowhouses |
| Flexible color, shape, and form | Curves and angled volumes | Noise and privacy concerns reported | Hendricks Regional Health YMCA |
| Varied texture | Tactility and material continuity | Connection to an existing campus character | Golkin Hall, University of Pennsylvania |
| Contrasting colors and courses | Program zoning and hierarchy | Differentiate commons and classroom wings | New Settlement Campus, Bronx |
| Shaped face brick | Consistent complex corners | One modular unit for 28 corner conditions | Fountaindale Public Library |
| Motifs and ornament | Identity, symbolism, skyline expression | Architectural emphasis in a chapel | Kent R. Hance Chapel |
How should a project team use these brick ideas today?
The 2014 examples are useful starting points, but they are not current code guidance, a product catalog, or proof of sector-wide adoption. A practical workflow is:
- Define the job of the façade. Decide whether the priority is context, identity, solar control, privacy, acoustics, or a combination. Keep visual goals separate from performance requirements.
- Choose the geometric ambition. A color or bond change is generally simpler to coordinate than repeated curves, deep projections, or custom-shaped units. Identify where complexity is genuinely valuable.
- Test the pattern at building scale. Review elevations, corner studies, and a full-size mock-up when texture, relief, or color transitions are central to the design.
- Coordinate the assembly. Resolve backup walls, flashings, movement joints, openings, drainage, and maintenance access with the project’s masonry and envelope professionals. Do not infer technical suitability from a photograph.
- Verify current materials. Fired clay face brick is the relevant product category, but a generic retail listing cannot establish project-grade color consistency, dimensions, testing, or availability. Obtain current manufacturer documentation and samples.
- Document the intent. Include a pattern diagram, unit schedule, bond, mortar and joint requirements, tolerances, and transition details so the design survives procurement and installation.
The article also mentions engineered masonry rainscreen systems and names Desana Partners as a North American distributor, along with Belden/Redland systems. Those references are sourcing leads, not endorsements or verified recommendations. A quote from contractor Joe Ferolito says one such mechanically anchored masonry rainscreen system was “heads and shoulders above conventional masonry and thin brick” in his view. That is his opinion and should not be treated as a general performance finding.
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How were the seven approaches identified?
They come directly from the 2014 Building Design + Construction roundup of projects recognized in the Brick Industry Association’s Brick in Architecture Awards. The organizing criteria are the visible design moves—pattern, color, form, texture, contrast, shaped units, and ornament—and the contextual or functional purposes the article reports for individual projects. The source does not rank the approaches, compare products, or establish which remain prevalent in 2026.
Are these still “emerging” brick trends in 2026?
There is not enough evidence in the 2014 article and the cited material to answer that confidently. The label belongs to a 2014 article, and no contemporary survey or Brick Industry Association trend source is identified in the cited material. These approaches may still appear in current work, but their present prevalence should be verified project by project rather than assumed.
What should a designer take away?
The strongest lesson is that brick can operate at several scales at once: a color field establishes context, a bond or texture controls close-range character, and shaped or projecting units give corners, curves, towers, and parapets architectural form. The seven examples show possibilities, not prescriptions. Select the move that serves the building’s setting and purpose, then validate the complete wall assembly and current material supply before committing to it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can these brick strategies be combined on one building?
Yes. A project might pair a restrained gray palette with varied texture, or use contrasting colors to distinguish wings while reserving shaped units for key corners. Combining moves works best when one idea is clearly primary and the others reinforce it rather than compete for attention.
Does a projecting brick pattern automatically improve solar performance?
No. The Omaha example reports an intention to reduce late-day glare and filter natural light, but the article supplies no measured result. Solar performance must be evaluated for the full façade, including orientation, openings, shading, and interior conditions.
Is a shaped face brick available as an off-the-shelf product?
The source documents a project-specific hinge-shaped modular unit at Fountaindale Public Library, not a current universal product. Ask manufacturers for present-day catalogs, samples, dimensions, tolerances, and installation requirements before assuming a similar unit can be procured.
What is the difference between a brick motif and a brick pattern?
A pattern usually describes repeated changes in bond, color, depth, or orientation across a wall. A motif is a deliberate figure or compositional element—such as the chapel façade pattern, bell tower, or curved parapet—that helps communicate identity or focus.
