The 2002 addition and the 1950 building side by side in 2014, the brick on both reading as one wall
Case File 014

Matching a South Bend Office Addition to Discontinued Brick

The building went up in 1950. When it expanded in 2002 the brick it was built from was no longer manufactured, so the new wing was stained one unit at a time. It was photographed again twelve years later.

Case No. 014
Structure Office building addition
Location South Bend, Indiana
Stained 2002
Re-photographed 2014
Elapsed 12 years, Gold level

2002

  1. The stair tower of the new wing in 2002, its brick one flat orange red across every course, beside a tall window and the mirrored curtain wall of the older block Before, 2002 View this photo larger
  2. Two workers in a boom lift at an upper corner of the new wing in 2002, the brick running one even orange red across the corner and along both faces beside them During, 2002 View this photo larger

What the addition had to match

The 2002 wing had to read as the same wall as the 1950 building, and the file records the obstacle in one line: the original brick was no longer manufactured. The brick distributor hired the work, not the owner and not the mason.

What was done

The distributor went to The Belden Brick Company for new brick in the same shape and texture as the original. Color came after: eight different recipes, brushed on one brick at a time, so the finished wall reads as several brick colors rather than one.

2014, twelve years on

  1. The office from the car park in 2014, the 2002 wing on the left and the 1950 building on the right, the brick on both reading as the same wall 2014 View this photo larger
  2. The same stair tower and tall window in 2014, its brick now a mix of reds, browns and darker units across every course, with bare trees mirrored in the glass 12 Years After View this photo larger
  3. The 1950 building, its brick a red and brown mix under a flat parapet, with white mullioned glazing and snow banked along the kerb Original, built 1950 View this photo larger

What twelve years show

Same stair tower, twelve years apart, with the 1950 building beside it in the same frame. The work took the 2002 Excellence in Construction Award from the Michiana Area Construction Industry Advancement Fund, category Building Masonry Staining, Commercial. The architect was The Troyer Group. The form was signed in 2020, eighteen years on, and marked Gold, which the scale sets at fifteen years and over.

The signed file

Every certified job gets the same form, signed on the day someone goes back to the building. This is the one for case 014, transcribed beside the scan so it can be read on a phone and by a search engine.

The case study form for case 014, filled in and signed View the signed form full size
Project name
Office Building, South Bend (2002)
Level
Gold. The scale runs Bronze at seven years and over, Silver at ten and over, Gold at fifteen and over, Platinum at twenty and over.
Hired by
Brick distributor
Cause
Addition or makeover
Background
"When this office building expanded, the owner wanted the new addition to match the existing building. However the original brick was no longer manufactured"
Actions taken
"We stained every brick one at a time with eight different recipes to create this match"
Detail of events
"Staining isn't just for repairs, it can help distributors sell brick. The local brick distributor worked closely with The Belden Brick Company to get the same shape and texture as the original. Then we came in to make the additional brick look even better"
Address
"Release permission required"
Authorized
Donald A. Foster, signed, dated 2020
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