Skip to content Longhouse, Hawthorn: Where Form Brick Began
The Longhouse project in Hawthorn is a significant milestone for Form Brick, as it was among the company’s first projects, completed in 2016. While brick inlay was not used on this project, Longhouse remains an important part of Form Brick’s story as the first commercial building where we supplied brick facings cut from real bricks.
This project marked the beginning of Form Brick’s journey into precision brick cutting. The bricks for Longhouse were processed using Form Brick’s first automated brick cutting machine, which was designed and built in-house. Although basic by today’s standards, this early machine played a critical role in shaping the technology that followed. Since then, the system has been continuously developed and refined, becoming significantly faster, more accurate, and far more efficient than the original model used on this project.
Project Information
Project Status: Completed
Project address: Hawthorn, Melbourne, Australia.
Brickwork and Materials
The façade of Longhouse features brick facings, with real bricks carefully cut and fixed to the surface to achieve a clean, refined finish while maintaining the character of traditional brickwork.
The bricks used on the project are Dry Pressed bricks sourced from Linkoln Brick Works, a family-owned brick manufacturer with a long-standing commitment to quality and craftsmanship. The below images show the bricks fresh out of the kiln, including one image prior to blending and another after blending, demonstrating how the final colour mix was achieved.
Architectural Direction
JAM Architect approached Longhouse with a clear intent to combine honest materiality with contemporary construction methods. The use of brick facings allowed the building to retain the warmth and texture of real brick, while providing greater control over detailing and consistency across the façade.
Outcome
Longhouse, representing the beginning of Form Brick’s evolution, reflects the early experimentation that led to ongoing innovation. The experience gained from this project directly informed the development of Form Brick’s cutting technology, which has since progressed into highly efficient systems now used across a wide range of projects.
Form Brick is proud to look back on Longhouse as the project that set the direction for the company’s approach to precision brick solutions.
Image sources: Form Brick, and the Internet.
Shaping Architectural Brilliance in Brick.
Be our next customers! We are happy to assist you to bring the project come to life.
