This page records a 2014 trade-show invitation and an early presentation of patterned brickwork. It can still help a design team discuss carved terracotta brick, but it is not a current event notice, catalogue or technical approval. A new project should turn the visual idea into defined geometry, material scope, evidence and an approval sequence.
Read the page as a 2014 exhibition archive
The original post, dated 16 October 2014, announced LOPO’s planned participation in The Big 5 in Dubai on 17–20 November 2014 and named booth F222. That event and invitation have passed. They must not be presented as a forthcoming exhibition, and the archived contact names, addresses, telephone numbers, download instruction and broad company claims should not guide a current enquiry.
The surviving images are useful historical context. The first is an event graphic that visibly names the 2014 dates and booth; the second shows a terracotta-product showroom facade; the third displays several hollow baguette profiles. None verifies present attendance, stock, dimensions, manufacturing capacity or suitability for a particular building.
Separate visible design ideas from product evidence
The remaining archive photographs show repeated geometric compositions, including star-like centres, angular infill pieces and a framed shopfront application. They demonstrate how colour, relief and joints can create pattern. They do not reveal the units’ composition, dimensions, back geometry, support, mortar, exposure rating or current availability. Even the phrase “carved brick” needs clarification: it may describe individually shaped facing brick, thin adhered units, relief pieces or another assembly.
Define the pattern and authorship first
Begin with an attributed reference set and a statement of design intent. Identify whether the pattern is project-original, derived from a specific historic source or created with a cultural consultant. Record the permitted transformations, symmetry, repeat, focal elements, border rules and areas where the composition may terminate. This protects authorship and avoids reducing a culturally specific language to a generic decoration.
Map the pattern onto coordinated elevations before developing pieces. Set control lines at openings, corners, signs and movement joints. Decide what happens when a bay does not accept a full repeat. A deliberate border or adjusted field is usually clearer than trimming important motifs unpredictably on site.
Resolve unit geometry and construction interfaces
Unit schedule
Give every standard and special piece a code, face dimensions, thickness, relief, edge, back, orientation and permitted tolerance.
Assembly
Identify whether units are laid, adhered or mechanically retained, then detail substrate, anchors, joints, drainage and perimeter conditions.
Manufacture
Confirm the forming route, tooling divisions, drying and firing constraints, minimum quantities, sample iterations and replacement route.
Site logic
Provide setting-out drawings, reference datums, piece labels, packing sequence, cut rules, protection and a repair procedure.
Relief changes edge vulnerability, mortar depth, shadow and cleaning access. Corners and window returns deserve full-size details, not a note saying “special piece.” The structural and facade designers must define loads, restraint, movement and substrate capacity for the actual assembly and jurisdiction.
Match the product classification to current evidence
Do not select a test simply because “brick” appears in the marketing name. First establish the intended use and governing specification. In a U.S. masonry context, the current ASTM C216 facing-brick page identifies scope and classifications for fired clay or shale facing units, while ASTM C67/C67M describes sampling and tests for brick and structural clay tile. The project professional should confirm the applicable edition, product fit and acceptance values; an adhered ornament or proprietary screen may need a different route.
Request current reports tied to the proposed unit, plant, finish and representative size. Depending on use, the evidence schedule may address dimensions, warpage, absorption, strength, freeze exposure, efflorescence, bond or attachment, fire requirements and material declarations. A standard name without specimen identity and results is not evidence.
Approve colour, relief, joints and workmanship together
Progress from loose colour and relief samples to full-size special pieces, then build a representative mock-up with real joints, corners and interfaces. Review it vertically in relevant daylight and night lighting. Agree the acceptable fired colour range, intended variation, edge quality, chips, joint colour, workmanship distance and replacement criteria. Retain signed samples and photograph the accepted mock-up with piece codes.
Use the mock-up to trial cleaning and water shedding without assuming the decorative face is maintenance-free. Record who may approve later changes. Keep labelled spares from accepted production, especially where a pattern depends on uncommon shapes.
Issue a decision-ready carved-brick enquiry
Send vector artwork and elevations, pattern scale, unit schedule, assembly concept, location, exposure, quantities, programme, applicable standards and required samples. Ask suppliers to identify deviations instead of silently redrawing the motif. Compare current terracotta brick options and relevant built work in the project gallery, then verify every offered unit against the project brief.