Can
you REALLY spot the difference? 

Eagle-eyed builders are given the
challenge: tell us which one is not traditional brick 

A challenge is being set for thousands of
builders attending this year’s UK Construction Week â€“ spot which
façade is not made with traditional bricks. 

The competition aims to promote a new, fast-fix brick system
that
is significantly faster to install than brick
slips. It’s the newest innovation in the full spectrum of MMC
products launched for the UK housebuilding market. 

The new weberwall brick from Saint-Gobain Weber is
a simple lightweight brick effect product supplied on mesh
sheets, in a range of highly realistic brick
finishes.  

Weber is so confident that even the most
seasoned bricklayer will not be able to spot the difference that it is
offering a prize draw* of an iPad Mini or £500 of Virgin Experience
Day Vouchers at UK Construction Week to all
those who can correctly guess which is which.  

As a UK factory-manufactured product
that falls into category 6 of the Government’s recent MMC
definition, weberwall brick is
particularly suitable for applications where a housebuilder needs
to achieve a quality finish but without having to use specialist
labour on site â€“ for example, completing the facades on garage
blocks, plant rooms, bin stores or other ancillary buildings, or as
a factory-applied cladding for volumetric modules or
panellised build systems. 

weberwall brick comes
in three different designs to accommodate common housing design requirements:
wall wrap, corner wrap and solider wrap, minimising the need for cutting and
allowing workers to install the product quickly. It also comes
in a wide range of brick colours. 

Kelvin Green, product manager, Saint-Gobain
Weber said: 

“About half of all new builds in the UK have
brick façades, a clear indication that people find brick aesthetically appealing. However,
with the cost of bricks increasing and a six-month delay on
brick allowances and expensive alternatives such as brick
slips and acrylic bricks, meeting this aesthetic demand is costing
housebuilders dearly. 

“Bricklayers are highly skilled tradespeople
and, as a result of the skills gap, are often in short supply. Wages
are also reported to be rising sharply. These are strong drivers
for the increasing interest in MMC for new home construction. 

“With this in mind, we developed
the weberwall brick as
a viable alternative to traditional bricks and brick slips, enabling
the housebuilder to save its skilled bricklayers for more complex jobs.â€� 

Applied directly to the
substrate with a specially formulated render before being pointed in
the same way as a standard brick, weberwall brick
is faster to install, breathable and eliminates efflorescent lime
bloom as there is no lime or cement in the brick wrap. The brick
finish is formulated from 95% natural minerals bound in cross-linked polymers
to form a colourfast, frost-resistant surface. 

It is also significantly lighter
than traditional bricks. One wall wrap (displaying
20 brick faces) weighs the same as one standard brick,
therefore saving handling and transport costs and easing
the build process. weberwall brick is
suitable for external façades and also for interior
design, providing a modern industrial finish to the
interiors of bars, restaurants, shops, leisure centres and other buildings. 

Available from autumn 2019, weberwall brick is
available in a selection of colours and finishes. Bespoke colour matching is also available for large-scale
projects.  

To find out more about weberwall brick visit Weber’s stand
at UK Construction Week (B292 in
the Build area, Hall 10) to take part in the ‘spot the
difference’ challenge and for a live demonstration of weberwall brick installation on 8-10
October 2019. 

*Terms and
conditions apply, please see the Saint-Gobain Weber website:?www.uk.weber/weberwall-comp?