Discover the custom bricks shaping Australian architecture

19 June 2025

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From colour matching to custom profiles, bespoke bricks from Robertson’s are helping architects push the boundaries of façade design across the country.

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Cassie McKenzie

Architects are increasingly turning to colour matching and custom profiling when specifying bricks for façade design, with these products empowering them to translate their vision into a tangible and aesthetically-stunning reality. The visually distinctive, custom bricks are often key in creating unique and often complex designs that would be difficult – if not impossible – to deliver with standard products.

A prime example is the Nicholas Learning Centre at MLC Kew in Melbourne, where the architect carefully selected a range of Petersen bricks to complement the mix of existing bricks found across the campus.

Since its founding in 1882 with the Neo-Gothic Tidderman House, the school has added multiple buildings over the years in different styles. To mirror and celebrate the existing materiality, McIldowie Partners selected four different Petersen bricks, creating a gentle colour gradient that moves from the darkest bricks at the base to the lightest at the top.

“Petersen’s water-struck bricks are ideal for colour gradients. Due to the way they are made, each brick has a multitude of nuances that are also found in the bricks above, below and next to it, creating a harmonious gradient effect,” says John McIldowie, Director at McIldowie Partners.

The new building features curved brickwork – both horizontal and vertical – with the movement enhanced by the colour gradient.

“This softens the edges and creates a kind of veil around the learning environment inside. The idea is that the undulating brickwork echoes an innovative approach to material craftsmanship and learning. The curved brickwork is both a celebration of the students’ achievements and a protective frame around them. Petersen bricks were ideal for the job as they possess both a softness of tone and texture and a solidity when viewed as a whole.”

The textured façade of Petersen bricks forms a curved veil.

The bricks have been carefully graded from dark to light.

The natural colour variation of Petersen bricks made them perfect for the task.

Bespoke Petersen bricks for unique and complex designs

More customers are opting for custom brick solutions from Robertson’s Building Products, the exclusive distributor of Petersen Tegl in Australia and New Zealand.

Synonymous with quality and expert craftsmanship, Petersen Tegl’s high-quality, architectural bricks are prized for their range of standout colour tones, unmatched textures and, with many genuinely handmade, their artisan nature.

“These special bricks afford architects greater freedom during the design process, knowing that bricks can be custom made to bring their designs to life. Given that a large proportion of Petersen bricks are made by hand, it’s relatively easy for the brickworks to meet architects’ requests for special formats,” says Peter Robertson, Founder and Director of Robertson’s Building Products.

Designed by McIldowie Partners, the building is located between MLC’s primary and secondary schools in Kew, recognising this progression through the campus and providing a natural bridge into higher school activity.

Petersen’s colour department routinely conducts experiments, and several of the specially-coloured bricks created over the years for specific projects are now in Petersen’s standard brick range.

“When clients need a particular colour, Petersen adds small amounts of natural clay minerals to the mixture and fires the bricks between 1,000–1,150ºC, with different temperatures affecting the brick’s final colour and appearance. Variations in the clay type and firing process are also combined in different ways to produce an almost infinite array of colours in the final product.”

Petersen also produces specially glazed bricks, applying a liquid glaze after the first firing. The bricks are then fired in either electric or gas kilns at varying temperatures so that the glaze melts without affecting the character of the brick.

Working with Robertson’s Building Products

The key to successfully integrating custom bricks in architectural projects, such as the Nicholas Learning Centre, is early engagement, communication and collaboration.

“Collaboration allows us to achieve the best results, and that’s one of the things that brings us joy – having that challenge in front of us and working together with architects to come up with an approach that works,” says Peter. “Describe to us what you want to achieve, and let’s see whether we can come up with a solution; the earlier this is done, the less time that’s wasted and the faster the process. We’re really happy to participate in the design stage to try to find solutions. We love working with designers to allow their vision to be realised.”

With a proven track record and over 160 years of experience, Robertson’s Building Products continues to be a trusted provider of high-performance, innovative façade materials in Australia.

“Our unique sizes, unconventional textures and special colour blends include close to 150 locally and internationally sourced thin bricks, masonry, porcelain, stone, glass and concrete veneer products. And we’re constantly sourcing new and bespoke products to maintain our position as a leading supplier of unique, bespoke building materials that challenge the status quo and inspire.”

Explore more custom façade and brick solutions from Robertson’s Building Products.