Orange Brick Slips

Howcome Some Brick Slips Are Orange?

The simple answer is that it's based on the clay bricks produced not only in the UK, but across Europe - orange is a common colour for brick, and therefore the same for brick slips cut from clay brick.

Bricks are mostly a reddish colour due to the clay they are fired from - firstly if you consider the colour of a clay it would be close to red in colour, often more of a brown. As bricks are made by firing the clay in a kiln, this causes reactions from the minerals in the clay naturally, as well as from anything that has been purposely added to create the colour overall, or a pattern within the brick. The key mineral in to create an orange brick is common in clay - iron oxide, this is what gives it a red colouring when it reacts in the heat.

The variation in colour between red, brown and orange is the content of iron oxide, and also the firing temperature. Other elements such as manganese oxide or calcium carbonate can also be used to control the hue of orange.

As we've come to understand more about firing bricks across the last century, we are able to manipulate the mineral content, firing length and temperature to get specific outcomes in colour, pattern and texture. However, brick is still crafted from natural clay so natural variation is always present.

How Are They Made?

Our range of orange brick slips are mostly cut from full bricks. This means that a 'stock brick' i.e one pushed into a cuboid mould will have the character, specifically creasing and imperfect cuboid shape, created by that amount of clay being pressed. Once the brick is fired we can then cut each side off the brick to create 2 brick slips.

Our reclaimed collection has extra processes applied after the brick is made (but before cutting). They go through a tumbling process (like a big cement mixer) to not only misshape the bricks, but with application of slurries for some blends to create a more weathered look. After this process they can then be cut into the brick slips.

Our contemporary range is a little different. Because they are meant to be perfectly sharp edged, they are simply extruded into the shape of a brick slip already, this economises the amount of clay and the amount of energy used to fire them. They are engobed with their colour to provide a baked in consistent shade.

How Are They Different From Each Other?

The temperature of firing, oxygen levels, length of firing and type/quantity of minerals present mean that there is a variation in colour between each blend, and the slips within each blend too. Each brick type is made to satisfy a different colour palette.

Things To Be Aware of With Orange Brick Slips

As a classic brick colour, orange is pretty flexible in terms of it's use, so there isn't a lot to be concerned about. It usually goes well with all 3 of our mortar colours and works well with different bond patterns and mortar profiles too.

See below the effect that the different mortar colours can have on our orange brick slips.