Precast brick facades create coherent appearance

In the design of the new residential area of ​​Samppalinna, efforts have been made to match the new buildings to the brick architecture of the old buildings in the area. Brick facades are therefore a distinctive part of the look of the new area.  

“The brick facade is a durable and maintenance-free material. The use of brick has become more common in the last ten years in the construction of apartment buildings, and in this case the brick facades were chosen particularly to maintain the coherent appearance in the central city area,” tells Tapio Pauna from constructor TKU-Rakennus.  

A total of 4 500 m2 of concrete precast elements will be used in the first residential building at the site, Samppalinna Gustav. Most of them are brick-clad elements, bricked on site.  

Bricks can also be seen on the balconies. A total of 74 brick railings, stretching over an area of ​​approximately 360 m2, have already been installed in the balconies of Samppalinna Gustav.  

Both brick railings and elements are supplied by precast manufacturer VaBe.    

“What is special about thin and long brick railings is the curling, which is typical for a brick-clad element. This can be minimised by using a so-called expansion joint or by installing the railings as quickly as possible after manufacturing. In this case, we used the latter method,” says Tomi Mäkimarttunen, Project Manager of VaBe.   

“A movement joint means that the element is cut across the movement joint as planned. In this way, one long element practically contains two short elements, and the effects of curling are thus reduced. When the element is attached to the balcony, it no longer curves, even if the concrete has not yet reached its ultimate strength.”