Favorites

Content type

(0 Selected)

Select Content type(s)

Brick

Gallery

Location

Shape

Selected: None

Explore Cream Brick

Glen-Gery's assembly of cream brick colored products are ideal for architects, designers, builders and homeowners who are looking to bring an element of elegance to their design. Our cream colored bricks are available in hues from pearl to ivory.

View All Cream Brick Products

Ideal + Ivory

45 E 7th Street by Morris Adjmi Architects utilized cream brick in a high-fashion way

Dolomite Grey Wirecut

Bring Your Brick To Life

Bring your new design to life with the help of our style-centered virtual designer.

Virtual Designer

Explore Grey Brick

Glen-Gery's grey brick product offering includes both subtle neutrals and deep smoky effects. Involving a grey palette into your design can mean many things, whether it is appending a light monochromatic feel, or a dramatic and hazy note.

View All Grey Brick Products

Modern + Masterful

Front & York by Morris Adjmi Architects showcases grey brick as a light and lifting material

Belgian Gray Wirecut

Gray Glazed Brick

The PA State Archive building in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania is the largest project in North America featuring Glen-Gery glazed brick

Explore Gray Glazed Brick

Bring Your Brick To Life

Bring your new design to life with the help of our style-centered virtual designer.

Virtual Designer

Explore Red Brick

Glen-Gery's offering of red brick products are a collection of classic, modern, and everything in between. Red brick is simply timeless, and architects, designers and homeowners are transforming the stereotype of brick by incorporating it in their up-to-date designs.

View All Red Brick Products

Rich + Resilient

The Ashburn Fire and Rescue utilized our classic 53-DD brick with unique shapes and bond patterns

53-DD

Bring Your Brick To Life

Bring your new design to life with the help of our style-centered virtual designer.

Virtual Designer

Explore White Brick

Glen-Gery's offering of white brick products put forward a refreshing and light feel to any project. Whether you are looking for a crisp, smooth white brick product, or a textured, creamy look, you will find your style with Glen-Gery.

View All White Brick Products

Light + Lavish

This residential home features Charleston, a textured white brick with a sanded velour finish that adds character

Charleston

White Glazed Brick

The Co-Op in Philadelphia features our classic white glazed brick product that is perfect for any architectural design, both interior and exterior

Explore White Glazed Brick

Bring Your Brick To Life

Bring your new design to life with the help of our style-centered virtual designer.

Virtual Designer

Designing in Brick - Brick Details

Download Designing In Brick - Brick Details Brochure

POPULAR BRICK DETAILING IN RESIDENTIAL DESIGN

Brick is one of the most consistently popular building materials among architects, designers and builders alike, due primarily to brick’s versatility to adapt to various designs. Glen-Gery boasts an extensive selection of brick to create extraordinary details within the extruded, molded, and handmade brick lines.

Here we’ll break down four of the most common brick details used in residential construction so you can decide which patterns and accents are most appropriate for your home style. Regardless of the brick and details selected, your new brick home will provide the same unbeatable benefits of brick that no other building material can offer… for a lifetime and beyond.

SOLDIER COURSE & ROWLOCK

A soldier course is a row of brick are laid standing up with the narrow edge (or face) exposed. Think of a soldier course as a rank and file of bricks standing at attention, as the soldiers do. This detail is used for decorative effects over doors, windows and other openings such as fireplaces, or as a transition between two materials. A rowlock is a course of brick laid on the long narrow side with the short end of the brick exposed. The rowlock is similar to the header course except that the brick are laid on narrow or face edge. This type of course is often used as the top course or cap of garden walls and as window and door sills.

QUOINS

Quoin is the accentuation of a building’s corner with short side header bricks and long side stretcher bricks or stone blocks that may or may not differ from the wall masonry in size, color or texture.

CORBEL

Corbel refers to an architectural piece that projects out from a wall and serves as a bracket to carry weight, such as that imposed by a balcony. Corbels are built into walls to a depth that allows the pressure on the embedded portion to counteract the load on the exposed portion.

CORBELLED ARCHES

Corbelled arches are decorative curved elements in the corners of an opening that appear to be supporting the opening. A corbel arch is constructed by offsetting successive horizontal courses of brick, beginning at the springline of the walls.

You May Also Be Interested In

2025 Home Design Trends

Trends in Design and Renovation: A Comparative Study Among Homeowners and Architects

Comparing Cladding Costs: Why Brick is the Smart Investment for Your Home

How Bricks Are Made: Understanding the Brick Manufacturing Process

The Sustainable Edge of Brick in Modern Architecture

What Is a Tileable Image or Seamless Texture?

Gradient Brick Blends

An Introduction to Thin Brick Veneer Wall Systems

Brick vs. Vinyl Siding Comparison for Your Home's Exterior

Designing in Brick: Finishes & Textures

Design and Color Trends for 2023

Mixing Brick & Stone

Choosing Between Brick Colors

2022 Brick In Architecture Winners

2021 Brick In Architecture Winners

Designing in Brick - Brick Details

Designing in Brick - Understanding Popular Brick Shapes

Designing in Brick - Select the Ideal Brick Size for Your Home

Enhanced Design Visualizer Tool Inspires + Simplifies

Welcome to the Brickworks Worldwide Flagship Design Studio in NYC

Designing in Brick - Mortar & Joints

Creating Texture with Nontraditional Brick Patterns

On-Trend Home Designs for 2022

2022 Trend Forecaster Q&A with Mark Woodman

Design Perspective Q&A with Architect Frano Violich, FAIA

3 Rooms Perfect for Adding Focal Points

Glazed and Unglazed Brick Comparison

Glazed Brick 101: Everything You Need to Know

A Look into 2024: Trends in Brick, Architecture, and Beyond

Unearthing the Timeless Choice: Genuine Clay Brick Pavers vs. Concrete

Clay Brick Paving Patterns

Q&A: Brick Pathway with an Engraved Twist

Design Perspective Q&A Honoring Italian Architecture in Little Italy with Morris Adjmi

Women in Masonry - Q&A with Casey Weisdock

Q & A with At Home Custom Interiors

Ways to Use Brick and Stone to Enhance Your Home

We Can Help With Your Next Project

Discover the latest + greatest in design trends, industry news & pro tips from pros.

View Our Events

For all of your project needs, you’ll find everything you need at a Supply Center.

Find a Location

Let Us Know How We Can Help!

Back to Design Channel

Georgian, Shenandoah

Georgian

Designing in Brick - Understanding Popular Brick Shapes

View Designing in Brick: Brick Shapes Brochure

DESIGNING IN BRICK: BRICK SHAPES

Brick is one of the most consistently popular building materials among architects, designers and builders alike, due in large part to brick’s versatility to adapt to a variety of designs.

Glen-Gery boasts an extensive selection of brick shapes to correlate with our comprehensive line of extruded, molded and handmade brick as well. Here we’ll break down a few common brick shapes used in residential design.

	Flat Arches Glen-Gery’s flat arches achieve the look of the classic jack arch with the cost of custom dimensions for every brick in the arch. Flat arch pieces, except for the keystone, are the same size and shape and have parallel sides. The voussoirs are designed with a 70° skew-back angle and 3/8” nominal mortar joint.
	Circular Arches These arches are manufactured only from architects’ full-size details and must include specific information including the type of arch, rise, dimension of the masonry opening, thickness of the mortar joint and radii of the arch. It also must be determined whether it is a one- or two-brick arch.
	Water Table Rowlock and on-the-flat water tables, historically used to reduce water penetration, are now used by architects and designers to achieve decorative design details. These details can vary from the use of a single style for simplicity to a combination of styles to achieve highly ornate and intricate brickwork. In addition to their traditional use, these shapes can be used to add dimension to flat walls, rotated to form door and window jambs, or inverted to form cornice brickwork. Continuity of design can also be transferred into the landscape by using the water tables as caps for walls or edging accents for walkways.
	Sills, Copings & Treads The basic function of copings and sill is to reduce the potential for water penetration. This is easily and attractively accomplished with a variety of Glen-Gery brick shapes. Their profiles, whether angular or curvilinear, add distinctive detailing to wall caps, windows, and door openings. Tread shapes are manufactured to properly finish brick steps and other paving applications.

Flat Arches
Glen-Gery’s flat arches achieve the look of the classic jack arch with the cost of custom dimensions for every brick in the arch. Flat arch pieces, except for the keystone, are the same size and shape and have parallel sides. The voussoirs are designed with a 70° skew-back angle and 3/8” nominal mortar joint.

Circular Arches
These arches are manufactured only from architects’ full-size details and must include specific information including the type of arch, rise, dimension of the masonry opening, thickness of the mortar joint and radii of the arch. It also must be determined whether it is a one- or two-brick arch.

Water Table
Rowlock and on-the-flat water tables, historically used to reduce water penetration, are now used by architects and designers to achieve decorative design details. These details can vary from the use of a single style for simplicity to a combination of styles to achieve highly ornate and intricate brickwork.

In addition to their traditional use, these shapes can be used to add dimension to flat walls, rotated to form door and window jambs, or inverted to form cornice brickwork. Continuity of design can also be transferred into the landscape by using the water tables as caps for walls or edging accents for walkways.

Sills, Copings & Treads
The basic function of copings and sill is to reduce the potential for water penetration. This is easily and attractively accomplished with a variety of Glen-Gery brick shapes. Their profiles, whether angular or curvilinear, add distinctive detailing to wall caps, windows, and door openings. Tread shapes are manufactured to properly finish brick steps and other paving applications.

View more shape drawings here!