If you’re an architect or specifier looking to meet your CPD requirements while gaining practical knowledge you can use on live projects, UKBrick's RIBA-approved CPD session on designing with structural brick is built for you.
The session covers lintel types, brick soffits, prefabricated solutions,fire resistance and movement, all within a single, structured module you can record against your annual CPD obligations.
UK Brick's CPD session, “Designing with Structural Brick”, is approved through the RIBA CPD Providers Network, delivered by NBS and RIBA. Thesession explores design capabilities and technical properties of structural brick elements, showing how they work seamlessly alongside standard brickwork on contemporary and residential projects.
The module is designed for architects and specifiers who want to move beyond surface-level brick knowledge and understand how structural details workfrom specification through to installation.
You can book this CPD session by contacting UK Brick directly. Sessions are available in person at your practice or online – whichever fits your programme.
A lintel is a structural member placed over an opening – a door, window or any gap in a masonry wall – to carry loads from the structure above and transfer them to the side walls. Choosing the wrong type creates long-term performance problems.
The CPD covers the main lintel options architects encounter when designing with brick:
· Loose angle lintels – used in brick veneer and cavity wall constructions where the lintel spans the opening and has no lateral support
· Combination lintels – required in solid masonry walls where a single angle cannot carry the load alone; these cluster steel angles or combine a steel beam with plates
· Prefabricated brick-faced lintels – factory-produced units with brick slips bonded to a structural chassis, delivering a continuous brick aesthetic without relying on on-site cutting
· Structural brick beams – load-bearing elements engineered to span openings while presenting a true brick finish; a structural core (typically precast concrete) carries the design loads, with factory-bonded brick slips recreating the chosen bond pattern
The session helps you understand when each type is appropriate, and what the structural, aesthetic and programme implications of each choice are.
Brick soffits, deep reveals and flying beams are popular features on modern masonry facades. They add depth and visual interest, but they require careful specification to perform well and look right.
The CPD session covers:
· Soffit depth and bond pattern – stretcher, header, rowlock, soldier and half-lap bonds each produce a different visual result on the soffit face, and the choice affects the relationship between the soffit and the main facade
· Integration with the façade – the soffit must read as part of the same masonry story; surface texture, joint profile andbrick source all need to be agreed before manufacture
· Concealed structural steelwork – prefabricated soffit systems use concealed steelwork to create the seamless appearance of unsupported brickwork
When specifying waterstruck bricks, as found in UK Brick's contemporary range, the surface structure created by the waterstruck process gives facades personality and depth. If the soffit detail introduces a different texture or joint logic, it disrupts the coherence of the whole elevation. The CPD teaches you how to keep that continuity intact.
One of the practical focuses of the CPD module is the shift from on-site masonry crafting to off-site fabrication for complex details.
Prefabricated structural brick elements offer repeatable quality, tight tolerances, and significantly less on-site cutting. For architects and contractors, this means:
· Shop drawings issued for approval before manufacture begins
· Brick source confirmed and matched to the façade – or sourced from site stock for perfect continuity
· Bond patterns, joint thickness, soffit depth, corner returns and movement-joint positions all agreed at design stage
· Trial panels available where required
This matters particularly when specifying premium waterstruck or linear bricks – materials where consistency of surface and joint is part of the design intent, not just background construction.
The CPD walks through how to provide the right information at specification stage – elevations,opening schedules and outline load information – so the manufacturing process can deliver what the design requires.
Fire performance is not optional in structural brick specification. Since the building safety reforms that followed the Grenfell Tower fire, fire and life safety sits as a mandatory CPD topic under the ARB scheme. The CPD session addresses this directly.
Key learning in this area includes:
· A1 fire classification – clay brick is a non-combustible material and achieves an A1 Euroclass fire rating, the highest classification under the European reaction-to-fire testing standards. Structural brick elements that use A1-rated materials throughout are compliant with Approved Document B: Fire Safety
· Building type and height – fire performance requirements differ depending on building use and height; the session clarifies how this affects specification decisions
· Prefabricated system compliance – certain prefabricated brick soffit and lintel systems are BBA certified and manufactured entirely from A1 fire-rated materials, making them suitable for residential buildings over 11 metres and removing restrictions on building use or height
For architects working on higher-risk buildings under the Building Safety Act 2022, understanding the fire classification of every material in the facade is a professional requirement. This CPD module helps you record against that obligation with confidence.
Brickwork moves. Clay bricks expand slightly after firing as they absorb moisture from the atmosphere, and that movement continues over time.Temperature changes cause further expansion and contraction. Failing to accommodate movement correctly leads to cracking, spalling and long-term maintenance problems.
The CPD session covers:
· Expansion joints – both vertical and horizontal expansion joints are needed in brick masonry. Vertical joints permit horizontal movement; where a lintel is involved, the expansion joint must be detailed to go around the end of the lintel and continue down the wall
· Differential movement – where different materials meet at a lintel or soffit junction, theirdifferent movement characteristics must be accounted for in the detailing
· Soft jointb elow shelf angles – where shelf angles support masonry panels, a soft joint below the angle accommodates vertical movement
· Movement joint position and coordination – positions need to be agreed at specification stage, not resolved on site
This section of the CPD is highly practical. Getting movement provision right at drawing stage is far less costly than dealing with it during snagging or post-handover.
UK Brick has over 40 years of experience guiding architectural decisions. As the UK's exclusive supplier of Randers Tegl products, oneof Northern Europe's most respected brick manufacturers, the team brings direct manufacturing and specification knowledge to the session, not just general theory.
The CPD maps to RIBA's core curriculum topic: Design, construction and technology, one of the ten mandatory areasall Chartered Members must cover each year. Attending counts as structured CPD,helping you reach the 50% structured-activity target that RIBA recommends.
Structural brick specification is a skill that architects are increasingly expected to demonstrate – not just for design quality, but for compliance with building safety regulations. UK Brick's RIBA-approved CPD session gives you both in a single, practical module.
Contact UK Brick to register your place and arrange a session for your practice.