Firth Strata® Brick – fashionable, affordable … and now with 22% less CO₂
While many would say New Zealand’s housing market is in a slump, group home builder Wolfbrook Residential appears to have found the right formula. The New Zealand based property developer continues to deliver high-quality, affordable homes in growing communities, with many selling off the plan before construction even begins. A key part of their design strategy is the use of Firth Strata Brick - a stylish, lightweight, colour-consistent, sustainable brick that features prominently in many of their developments.
Quality builds require quality products. In Christchurch alone, Wolfbrook Residential has completed eight developments using Firth Strata brick, with more underway. Aleisha Phillips, Interior Designer for Wolfbrook Residential, says she specifies Firth Strata wherever possible.
Images courtesy of Wolfbrook Residential
“It’s such a great brick,” she says. “I particularly love the ‘Antique Blend’ colour because it complements our overall design strategy. Whether the development follows a dark or light scheme, Antique Blend works beautifully … and it looks amazing paired with cedar weatherboards.”
Paul Cumberland, Commercial Sales Representative (Christchurch) for Firth, says: “ProBuild ITM is our customer and over the past few years we’ve produced around 175,000 Strata bricks for them, for use in Wolfbrook Residential developments.”
“Paul showed me a few samples of Strata brick a few years ago, and I took them to Aleisha and she loved them,” says Scott Beckingsale, Account Manager for ProBuild ITM. “She’s found Strata to be colour consistent, affordable, and they are easy to lay. Another big plus is how easy Firth is to work with. Their bricks are good quality, consistent in colour and size, and they’ve helped me out many times when things didn’t go to plan. I can get top-ups, and they keep stock on hand. Dealing with Firth is no problem.”
Colour consistency is critical in developments to ensure a harmonised aesthetic across homes. Paul explains that Firth manufactures full runs of each brick and keeps product available for customers when needed. However, he says that as bricks are manufactured from locally sourced materials slight colour differences can occur between regions. “It’s always best to get samples from us, especially if bricks are made at different plants.”
Now … with 22% less CO₂
Firth’s Christchurch manufacturing plant has rolled out a major innovation that the team has been developing for the past four years. “We’re now incorporating supplementary cementitious materials (SCM) into our masonry concrete mix,” says Dene Cook, Divisional Technical Manager, Concrete Division at Fletcher Building. “By replacing some of the cement with SCM’S, we’ve achieved a 22% reduction in total Global Warming Potential (GWP). The result is bricks that are not only affordable and stylish, but also significantly better for the environment.”
“Our guys really like working with them,” adds Aleisha. “They’re clean, consistent in size, and easy to work with. We’re just really happy using Firth Strata. I’ve just placed an order for 6,000 Premium White Strata bricks for some of the standalone homes in our new Oliver Grove subdivision in Halswell. I can’t wait to see how they look!”
Customer: ProBuild ITM https://itm.co.nz/stores/probuild-itm
Developer: Wolfbrook Residential https://wolfbrook.co.nz
Location: Nationwide
Product: Firth Strata Brick https://www.firth.co.nz/bricks-and-blocks/bricks/strata-brick
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