The Beauty of Exposed Brickwork

Architects love authenticity of materials and exposed brickworks can be seen in many of their most innovative projects.

The latest Karen Miller ad to grace fashion bibles features this season's style must-have: not a shaggy, faux-fur yeti suit or an embroidered tweed jacket, but an exposed brick wall. It's there again in the Burberry ads, in shades of olive and purple, and even turns up in the Dior ad, this time as a brick floor.

The Karen Miller campaign was shot in IQ Glass project, Ladlecombe, Cotswolds a contemporary home of the bare brick wall.

Karen Miller Campaign - IQ Glass UK – Ladlecombe, Cotswolds

Exposed brick/stone is a statement piece in its own right. Warm and textural, it stands alone in the way a white walls.

Design Advice

Less is more: limit your brick to one wall, two at most otherwise the room will feel overpowered. Exposed bricks should be slightly uneven in shape and colour; if they're too uniform, too orange or in poor condition, paint them. White is classic, or try shades of grey or mushroom. Brick can look beautiful painted: it accentuates the irregularities and shadows cast by the bricks.

Arkitexture – House in Somerset, Cotswolds

This renovation project connects a series of farmhouse buildings into a single dwelling featuring the original exposed brickwork.

IQ Glass UK – Gladys Road, London

IQ’s Gladys Road project uses an exposed brickwork feature wall to reveal the Victorian history of the London terrace home. As well as slim frame sliding glass doors to the rear helps fill the room with natural light.

Urban Fires – Cotswolds

A project by Urban Fires uses a contemporary double-sided gas fireplace complimenting the exposed brickwork wall.