AJ Climate Champions podcast: Carmody Groarke’s Sian Ricketts on making bricks from waste

Carmody Groarke sustainability lead Sian Ricketts explains how architecture can adapt to the reality of finite resources and an abundance of waste

Ricketts advocates that architects should develop their intuition and new rules of thumb to design for a changing climate. Architecture needs to adapt to incorporate materials from waste streams, and this requires a new approach to detailing and ongoing maintenance. ‘The industry is going through a huge learning process and we should not be scared of getting it wrong,’ she says. Marginal gains on every project are important.

In this episode, Ricketts describes the process of developing a bespoke brick for the Design Museum Gent in Belgium. She explains that the practice did not start with a bespoke brick in mind. Because conventional clay fired bricks are high in embodied carbon, an exploration of less carbon intensive alternatives led to an in depth collaboration with Local Works Studio and Brussels-based bcmaterials that in turn led to incorporating local waste streams into the design of the new brick.

Innovation requires R&D and funding, and the project team secured €100K from Circular Flanders for the initial research. Lime is used as a binder, which means that the bricks can be cured, rather than fired. Due to the biodiversity impacts of mining virgin sand, alternatives to the sand used in conventional brick manufacturing were explored and this led first to excavation waste and then to municipal waste. Extensive testing was undertaken to meet both structural and aesthetic requirements.

Ricketts observes that the process of developing the bespoke brick for Ghent has strengthened the practice’s confidence in seeking opportunities for both innovation and circularity in future projects. Carmody Groarke is currently working with Imperial-based startup Seratech to explore the use of magnesium carbonate as a binder for bricks.

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About Sian Ricketts

Sian joined Carmody Groarke in 2019 and is project architect for the renovation and extension of the Design Museum Gent. She also delivered the roof and envelope package for the renovation of Manchester’s Grade II-listed Power Hall at the Science and Industry Museum.

As the practice’s sustainability lead, Sian is actively involved in the studio’s R&D, including the design and certification of a prototype brick for the Design Museum Gent. She is also industry lead in a Design Enterprise Partnership with Imperial College London, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council.

Sian is an active participant in the profession-wide ‘sustainability leads’ group, a cross-practice support network for knowledge-sharing. She has also been involved in ACAN.

Sian studied architecture at London Metropolitan and then at Cambridge. Prior to studying architecture, she studied Fine Art Sculpture at Wimbledon College of Art.