Ibstock has launched its new Umbra range of textured brickwork which creates innovative and subtly changing looks for brick faced buildings. The new range is available in four designs – Wave, Sphere, Pyramid and Sawtooth - which give a textured appearance that changes with natural light throughout the day.

The range is available with either a red sanded finish or with a smooth red, buff or blue finish. Architects and designers can use a unique combination of different Umbra shapes and bricks to develop bespoke looks for a variety of building types.

The four designs in the range have been created to co-ordinate with standard brick work sizes to deliver complete design flexibility and ease of installation on site. The Umbra units can be installed as complete panels or inter-spaced with standard bricks to create a broad range of different effects.

For more information on Ibstock’s new Umbra range, please call 0870 903 4030 or visit www.ibstock.com.

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OVER 100 representatives from the UK's top architectural, housebuilding and design communities gathered at RIBA headquarters this month to attend Ibstock's guest lecture seminar by the widely respected designer and architect Wayne Hemingway of Hemingway Design.

The RIBA seminar 'An Alternative View of Sustainable Living' introduced the topic of sustainable living for communities and discussed the ever popular and eco-friendly use of brick a 21st Century building material.

Hemingway contends that many of today's social problems of inner city and urban life are caused by poor planning, coupled with the lack of care and concern for how people live in communities. He argues that community based dwellings which are sympathetic to the sense of place and belonging will have a self-sustaining longevity, in direct contrast to the anonymity of the current city and town centres.

Ibstock fully supports Hemingway's philosophy and is committed to sustainable building design. Lex Harrison, Ibstock's Innovation and Design Manager comments "There is a strong feeling of safety and assurance connected with brick in the built environment. People feel very comfortable living and operating in brick clad communities; as such brick is the undisputed building fabric of choice for UK housing. For hundreds of years, its warmth, versatility, availability and charm has lasted the test of time. Today, in addition to its excellent thermal and whole life properties brick continues to reinvent itself to meet the needs of modern methods of construction, planning and building design, providing specifiers and developers with innovative and sustainable solutions for changing communities and environments."