ESK BUILDING PRODUCTS

The origins of calcium silicate bricks, as we know them today, extends back to 1866 where the method using steam under pressure to cure sand and lime moulded to shape was patented in 1866 in England by Van Derburg. This was then developed and patented on 5th October 1880 in Germany by the German researcher Dr. Wilhelm Michaëlis who finally succeeded in producing a real "artificial sandstone".

Production of bricks on an industrial level did not, however, become possible until the introduction of the first rotating presses, originally designed for the production of cattle feed. These presses originated in England and were installed in Germany in 1894, marking the birth of the German calcium silicate industry. From these early beginnings the production process and the technical properties of calcium silicate bricks developed rapidly, resulting in the first industrial standard for calcium silicate units being introduced. Today calcium silicate is one of the major masonry building materials in Europe.

The first technical standard for the production of calcium silicate bricks was published in Germany in 1927 (DIN 106). This determined dimensions and size tolerances (2 mm), minimum compressive strength grade (15 N/ mm2), water absorption capacity and freezing resistance. In the meantime, more than 300 calcium-silicate plants had been established all over Western, Central and Eastern Europe and calcium silicate bricks and blocks considered as one of the most appropriate building materials for all kinds of building applications.

In the UK production developed through to the second world war, when the number of bricks produced was around 200 million bricks per annum. This number represented a substantial proportion of of the total of all brick produced. In 1936, in order to secure high standards of production and to undertake collective research, the Sand Lime Brick Manufacturers Association was formed.

The number of major buildings that have included calcium silicate bricks in their construction is too long to list here, however here are a few UK examples well known to us all - Battersea Power Station (the largest brick building in Europe), RIBA Portland Place London and BBC Broadcasting House London.

Whilst the production of calcium silicate bricks and blocks has continued to flourish throughout mainland Europe, Asia, Australasia, the USA, Canada and South America, due to various reasons, including company buy-outs and consolidations, Esk Building Products is now the sole producer of coloured, facing, calcium silicate bricks in the UK. The importance of ecologically sound methods of production has emphasised the benefits of calcium silicate blocks and bricks with an energy saving of approximately 60% when compared to fired clay brick products. The future for calcium silicate brick and block products in the UK, if you pardon the pun, is built on sound foundations providing, as it does, an eco-friendly product with a long proven history of effective use throughout the world.