Close collaboration Vandersanden and St Joris Ceramic Industry: 'Glazed bricks with a beautiful story'

It is the possibilities of expression that make glazed bricks so beautiful, said Roland Classen of brick producer Vandersanden. Director Jeroen van Thiel of St. Joris Keramische Industrie, the glazing specialist, endorses this view. Both gentlemen challenge the architects to work with them to explore the possibilities and where possible, push boundaries.

Jeroen: "As a specialist, we apply a glaze to our so-called semi-finished product, the dried product. This glaze can consist of ten to fourteen different types of raw materials and gives the stone a glass-like surface. This allows the finished product to be executed in different colors, textures and gloss. This gives the stone various beautiful aesthetic effects and accents and results in a stone of high-quality material that is expertly crafted."

Roland adds: "The heat treatment creates an extremely durable product and, an added benefit, it is highly resistant to graffiti. St. Joris is one of the most important European players in this field and their bricks can be found, among other things, in prominent stadiums of English soccer clubs such as Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur. You also see them in prestige projects with lots of form bricks such as residential towers and hotels in London, such as music box, black friars, and in other major cities. In the Netherlands and surrounding countries, different color shades are often used in school buildings, tunnels or viaducts, among others." 

Jeroen: "With a conventional facing brick, the color is mainly determined by the type of clay. With our glaze, there are hardly any restrictions in color shading. In addition to a palette of standard colors, we often work with architects to see exactly what color they are looking for; from a pearl effect to more uniform colors and from matte to glossy. Other specific accents are also possible. This is where we are unique as a manufacturer. The application of a glaze layer can be done in various ways. Variously sprayed, with colors and speckles or different glaze layers on top of each other. It is all part of the possibilities and gives diverse effects." 

Jeroen: "We invite architects to get acquainted with the possibilities in our laboratory, and in consultation with our glaze masters, abstract ideas take shape. We gladly accept this challenge, especially if there are special wishes. Thus, over time we have developed more than 10,000 different applications and that process continues; always something new or special. With its strand press, St. Joris makes almost any shape desired and can also apply a range of textures. We are only bound by maximum sizes, but within those, much is possible."

Jeroen: "At the color level, we can do a lot. We come up with a studio solution in a production facility. You can think of it as a mass product for projects of 3,000 m² or more, but custom-made. Building with ceramic bricks is still the most sustainable in today's construction and the added value of glaze makes it just a little more extravagant and surprising. We want to continue to challenge architects to make a difference; to create something that tells a story. We help them do that."    

On November 11 and 12, Vandersanden is organizing a one-day master class Dare to Shine on the theme of glazes. A number of speakers will share their vision and knowledge about glazes. In the afternoon there will be a workshop with a tour of the studio and factory Interested parties can send an e-mail to mooiegevels@vandersanden.com for registration and more information.