Brick Slip systems and the elephant in the room

Brick slip systems offer a raft of advantages over traditional bricks for the modular manufacturer but there has long been an elephant in the room and that has been cost.

Modular manufacturers live in the realm of new solutions and are very used to adopting new ideas and embracing materials and processes that enable them to deliver their end product.  Indeed, the modular sector is one of the primary drivers of growth for the brick slip sector, but there has never really been a clear answer as to why it usually costs more to dress a building in brick slips rather than traditional bricks.
Pilgrim set out with the specific mission of developing brick slip systems from scratch that were designed to meet the needs of the modular construction sector. The criteria were that the systems had to be simple to deploy, flexible enough to be installed either in-factory or on-site and on a range of different substructures, and crucially the systems needed to offer a financial benefit.

A1 Fire Classification
The first of Pilgrim’s brick slip systems to hit the market in 2019 was the A1 fire rated system, BrickShield which utilises a simple fibre cement backing board with channels for the brick slips. This system can be fixed directly to the substrate or combined with a helping hand system to create a ventilated façade. It has already been adopted as a favourite system for modular projects across both public and residential sectors and is one of the few brick slip systems that can address the “elephant in the room” question; not only is it simpler and quicker than traditional bricks, it’s also cheaper.

Insulated Brick Slips
The second of Pilgrim’s brick slip systems to make an impact is ThermClad, a system built around XPS insulation boards with pre-cut brick slip channels and available in a range of thicknesses. The ThermClad system provides an insulated brick façade in one incredibly simple package and when compared to the cost of insulation plus traditional bricks, is significantly more cost effective.

Supply chain disruption?
Compared to traditional clay bricks, brick slips use less energy to manufacture and are less bulky to ship. This means they are less affected by the current dramatic price increases and supply chain problems that are playing out across Europe at the moment. Pilgrim’s core business is manufacturing brick slips, both hand-made heritage styles and modern klinker types which are distributed across Europe and used by several of the UK’s leading system suppliers.  There is currently no shortage in supply and none foreseen for the coming year.

Contact Pilgrim Bricks & Tiles on info@pilgrimbricksandtiles.com, 01634 757191 or CLICK HERE to visit the website.