· This private house was another contemporary building which I wanted to document in this piece because of its construction within a heritage listed residential estate.
· As most of the buildings documented, the bricks serve a structural purpose in the building, and in this case are oriented to create a stretcher bond with a flush jointing.
· There is also a lining of headers on the top row of the balcony which I believed was a nice finish, and broke the monotonous stretcher bond pattern.
· These particular images were taken after a predominant portion of the house was cement rendered. Therefore the brickwork beneath the render would be well protected by the render, while the exposed brickwork which is at the façade of the house is in extremely good condition (seeing as the house is still in construction)
· The bricks had a light earthy tone, with a nice smooth surface texture, there were a fair few slightly discoloured bricks which were present, this was mainly due to external factors such a dust from construction and could be easily cleaned.
· The house itself was a good example of the beauty that bricks can create in relation to orthogonal and Cartesian geometry, with the use of beautiful load bearing square columns being the standout feature.
· This electrical substation in the Hurstville CBD is a classic example of the older style of buildings built in and around the 1940’s and 50’s.· What was interesting about this particular building was that only one side of the building was painted, leaving the rest of the bricks in the building exposed, as opposed to the creamy coloured paint which dominates the northern façade.
· The brickwork in this instance is structural and assists in bearing the load created by the 1st and 2nd floors of the substation.
· The brickwork is oriented according to an English bond, with an ironed jointing, with the northern façade being painted a creamy white colour, of which has masked many of the defects in the brickwork which have occurred over time.
· In taking a closer look at the brickwork, the defects are quite noticeable, although there is a smooth surface texture created by the creamy paint, there are some area in which the mortar has inadequately been cleaned up, leaving the joinery in the brickwork looking blotchy and rather unpleasant.
· The following images showcase the Hurstville Police station located in Ormonde Parade, Hurstville. · The use of brick has been the mainstay in the construction of this police station, and is structural element of the building. Aluminium (for the louvers) and stucco (the render above the louvers) are also used.· This particular building’s brickwork was built according to a stretcher bond, whereby there are no headers whatsoever within the brickwork. The brickwork’s mortar represented a ‘flush joint’ finish. · However, it can be clearly seen through the images that the brickwork is heavily worn and is in need of attention and some minor repair (most of these bricks are located towards the bottom of the walls on the western side of the station’s entrance) while there are some bricks (as can be seen in the bottom right hand photo) that have been snapped or broken, or perhaps were even recycled bricks that were used during construction. · These bricks, while adding character to the brickwork, do extrude quite a fair way outwards, to the rough estimation of about 4cm. The finish of the brick is also quite abrasive, which is strange for the flush joinery, and was immediately felt once contact was made with the brickwork, the colour of the bricks was also quite strange, yet was also quite beautiful with a mixture of black and an earthy red and sandy tone.
· This is the Hurstville City Library in Dora Street Hurstville. The brickwork for this building is structural, and is oriented in a stretcher bond with slightly raked jointing.· This building is extremely young, as it was constructed only 6 years ago to house the new city library, not only does it house the library, but it also houses hundreds of Hurstville residents who live atop of the library.
· While most of the building is oriented in a stretcher bond, it can be seen the join at the left hand side of the building is not a flush right angle, instead it is a curved surface with allows the tapers the edge between the northern and eastern side of the building.
· This curved surface showcases a very distinct type of brickwork whereby there are no stretchers, instead, specially cut bricks are aligned in order to make a beautiful curve, in which from the exterior, only headers can be seen.
· The building is in exceptional condition, with only some minor chipping on some of the brickwork, with most of the mortar looking well in tact.
· The surface texture was slightly rough, but not abrasive.
· The bricks have a sandy appearance which like the Church of Christ nearby, emit radiance when the sun hits it directly.
· While there are no huge defects in which to speak of, apart from some minor chipping, there is a layer of dust which has covered a majority of the brickwork. This is mainly due to the construction of a state of the art medical centre across the road. Therefore some of the dust from the debris has found itself attached to the library walls.
· The following building is a real estate agent located on Forest Rd. in Hurstville. The building is predominantly brick in which the brickwork is structural/load bearing.· The brickwork is assembled in a stretcher bond, which is very common for many buildings within the CBD. The jointing is ironed jointing as there is a concave in the mortar, therefore classifying it as a ironed joint.
· The brickwork has been painted an off white color which assists in protecting the bricks outer face from weathering and erosion, there has however, been some slight defect to the paint in and around the windows whereby there has been some staining (notice the black marks around the window frames)
· The surface texture of the brickwork is very smooth, this is mainly due to the thick layer of paint which has coated the outer exterior of the brick, as well as the mortar, and the paint has also preserved the initial mortar’s shape.
· While the whole building is constructed of brick, only about a quarter of the brickwork is exposed, while the rest of the brickwork is hidden beneath a cement render.
· This building was chose because I believed that it was rather unique for a congregational church to be so small – through the images it can be seen that the brickwork for this particular building is structural in that it carries the load put on it via the pitched roofing.· Again, a stretcher bond is used along with a raked jointing orientation. It is no real surprise that the stretcher bond has been used in this particular church considering its relatively youthful age in comparison to all the other buildings which surround it.
· The condition of the brickwork was fairly good, with minor chipping in some bricks, while the mortar looks in pristine condition; there has been no real evidence of weathering.
· The bricks have a light sandy appearance and seem to glow in the sunlight as seen from the image on the left hand side, they have a roughish texture, which isn’t overly abrasive as some other rough brickwork around the area (such as the police station).
· It can be seen on closer glance that the small platform on which the church sits atop of is oriented as such in that it has an English bond. The top row of bricks are comprised all of headers, as opposed to the stretchers which have been used below it. This gives a gentle contrast in the brickwork and gives the platform a nice finish.
· The reason why I took this photo was because of the vivid colouring of the brickwork at this local liquor store in Hurstville.· Like most new buildings, a stretcher bond is used, as well as the raked joints in between bricks. Again, bricks are the mainstay of this building’s form; as well as being a load bearing structural element.
· The bricks were very smooth to touch, as several coats of green paint had rendered the natural texture of the brickwork, which on first glance seems quite rough and abrasive.
· The condition of the brickwork was near perfect, as the thick layers of paint would act like a barrier to protect most of the brickwork and the mortar from being excessively damaged by any weathering, or by physical means. There are no real noticeable defects to the mortar or bricks, seeing that it is a relatively new building.
· However, in the instance that any damage would occur, it would be the paint that would be damaged first, leaving the brickwork and the mortar relatively unscathed.
· The bricklaying seems to be executed fairly well, however, one small defect was found by looking at the brickwork very closely. In the photo on the right hand side, there is a small difference in the gaps between the stretchers. The first row of brickwork in the image shows that the joints within the brickwork are slightly wider as opposed to the joints in the 3rd row of the brickwork, in which the gap between stretchers is extremely limited. This shows some slight flaws in the bricklaying, however from a distance, the brickwork looks near immaculate.
· This building was a welcome change from many of the other building which had more-or-less served a purpose within the community; this toilet block however has been closed by Hurstville City Council for reasons unbeknown by many.· The brickwork in this block serves as a structural support for the pitched roofing, and the block itself has the appearance of many federation type homes in the area, this is mainly due to the toilet block’s age, which has been estimated to be around 60 years old.
· The brickwork for this particular block is also indicative of its old age as it uses an English bond for its brickwork, as well as having raked joinery.
· It is an English bond because of the orientation of the brickwork, i.e. there are a row of headers above a row of stretchers. In this particular case, the rows of headers and separated by 5 rows of stretchers.
· Upon close inspection the brickwork was quite worn as there were many chips and cracks throughout the structure, however the surface texture of the brick was surprisingly smooth.
· In the main block, there was evidence of mortar disintegration, as over time the erosion caused by weathering has forced the mortar to weaken significantly.
· There was also a slight discolouration in the brickwork, both from the age of the bricks and the external means. This block is a notorious hotspot for vandals who have constantly sprayed graffiti all over the walls; the constant process of having to use harsh chemicals on the brickwork has meant that there has been discolouration from its initial earthy red tone. The chemicals and graffiti have given the brickwork a slightly green tinge.
