Specializing in solid bricks – the Steenbakkerijen van Membruggen in Membruggen-Riemst, Belgium
The solid brick is the brickmaker’s archetypal product. A simple product, although its actual production is anything but simple. The solid brick has become a scarce in the product ranges of brickworks. A brickworks that only produces solid bricks is a rarity. But the Steenbakkerijen van Membruggen, in the Belgian Province of Limburg, has never done anything else – genuine solid bricks, I should say, without any perforations whatsoever. But the range is by no means boring, as various sizes and many different natural fired colours ensure variety. The brickworks’ success justifies this specialization in solid bricks – production is sold out long in advance, so there are only few stacks of bricks in the stockyard and kiln has not been shut down for three years. There follows a report on a small family business, which is completely devoted to producing solid bricks.
