Resonance Of Bricks
Diploma, AHO Spring 2025
Irma Werenskiold
Resonance Of Bricks explores the intersection of historical preservation and sustainability through the reuse of reclaimed brick. This project reimagines the legacy of the Hoelstad Brickworks, transforming it into a facility dedicated to the circular process of brick reuse.
The project delves into the forgotten legacy of Hoelstad Brickworks, an industrial site whose significance has nearly vanished from both the landscape and the collective memory. Once a hub of material production, the brickworks has left behind little trace. Yet the story of this place, now hidden beneath layers of time, speaks through the bricks that continue to circulate.
My project aims to bring this history back to life, not as a nostalgic look back, but as an opportunity to respond to the future of building culture where circularity and reuse define the way we create spaces.
This is a project about a vanished brickworks and brick, the material that holds both the stories of the past and the potential for the future. Through the process of reclaiming and reusing brick, I have investigated how architecture can respond to a material's journey: from disuse and decay, through reclamation and renewal, to its reintegration into the building process. This journey forms the core of my project: a brick reuse facility that not only answers to the practical needs of handling reclaimed brick but also becomes a celebration of the life that the brick carries with it.
The program is structured around the concept of a circular process: Brick is received, cleaned, sorted, stored and redistributed.
The site is composed of two industrial buildings and three smaller structures aligned along "The line", a brick path that links the industrial area with the three smaller buildings.
5 buildings
The Workshop: cleaning and sorting of reclaimed brick. Equipped with cleaning machines and a sedimentation basin, it recycles both waste and water, and prepares bricks for reuse. A lime kiln converts cleaning waste into lime mortar, ensuring a sustainable system that supports the entire process of material reclamation.
The Vault: a brick storage facility and a masonry center. It is dedicated to storing reclaimed bricks and offering workshops where craftsmen and students can engage with the process of brick reuse.
Small workshop: a space for learning the making and drying of bricks.
The Brick Chapel: a space for firing of bricks. Dedicated to preserving and celebrating the craftsmanship and ritual associated with brickmaking.
The Archive Room: house of historical documents and records related to the brickworks.
The project is a functional facility designed to honor the forgotten history of the brickworks. It uses the concept of brick reuse to establish a connection between the past, present and future, highlighting the importance of sustainability and craftsmanship.
