Seems like everyone understands at least a little bit about R-Value. It’s simple and straightforward. As the R-Value of a material goes up, the insulative value goes up, so a material with a high R-Value must be energy efficient and one with a low R-Value must not be, right? Not so fast!

One of the best things about clay brick is its design versatility. It can be used to make dramatic and subtle beauties alike, and delivers durability and a sense of permanence in either case. For the Dr. Jorge Prieto Math and Science Academy in Chicago’s Belmont-Cragin neighborhood, designing architect SMNG-A Architects chose the latter, creating a simple structure with layers of subtle beauty that are revealed as one studies it.

Clay brick has been the go-to choice for beautiful, durable, functional buildings for centuries, but we in the Brick Industry tend to start from the outside as we list brick’s many virtues. When it comes to old brick buildings with thick, load-bearing perimeter walls that expose brick to the interior spaces, we say, “Oh, and it looks great on the inside, too.”

When it comes to the Spears School of Business, project architect Rand Elliott invokes first century Roman architect Vitruvius who asserted that great architecture contains firmness, commodity, and delight. In other words, it is “sturdy, useful and beautiful.” That description applies equally to the Spears building at Oklahoma State University and it’s chief building material, clay brick.

A brick building needs to be designed and built with brick in mind from the beginning, right? Surprisingly, not so! Retrofitting clay brick to a previously non-brick building is a real, and often overlooked, possibility for delivering the ultimate face lift to a structure.

Our access to the photo collections of the national Brick Industry Association and our member brick manufacturers from all over the U.S. gives us the opportunity to share images of excellent designs in brick that you’ve likely never seen before.