Wander down any street in London and there is one material that you’ll see more than any other: brick. The humble brick has been around in some form for thousands of years, and more traditional mud bricks are a fantastically low carbon building material. But fired clay bricks, the kind that we see everywhere in London (and much of the rest of the UK, for that matter), are pretty much the opposite.

Many of these historic buildings are incredibly attractive, and at the time that bricks were first developed, it made sense to use them. Following the Great Fire of London, timber framing was banned, and the London Building Act of 1667 dictated that new buildings should be constructed in masonry. Those historic brick buildings are a beautiful part of London’s heritage. The craftsmanship is often incredible, and the ornate details are just the kind of jazzy that I like.

But nestled in among these beautifully crafted buildings are some imposters – modern buildings which are clad in brick despite it making very little sense to do so. Buildings where the brick is supported from the edge of a concrete slab and structurally it’s a bit of a lie.

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