Moda, Makers Place, Birmingham with precast quarry tiles
Concept Architects - Ryder Architects
Delivered by Weedon Architects
Client - Moda Living
Contractors - Sisk and Thorp Precast
Products - bespoke 200mm x 200mm light multi quarry tiles with a dovetail key on the reverse, bespoke round edged quarry tiles with a dovetail key
Photography thanks to EH Smith Architectural
Moda Living’s new 722‑home neighbourhood, Makers Place, transforms a long‑neglected corner of Birmingham’s historic Jewellery Quarter into a vibrant residential community rooted in the area’s industrial heritage. Once an underused car park, the site now forms a contemporary extension of a district where more than 40% of the UK’s jewellery was once produced and where Victorian brickwork defines much of the existing streetscape.
The overall scheme comprises three buildings: two brick‑built residential blocks and a striking 39‑storey glass tower. Ryder Architects used brick as the primary material to connect the development to its surroundings, creating a modern architectural language that feels authentic to the Jewellery Quarter. Birmingham City Council, together with Ryder architects and Thorp Precast studied the local brickwork to identify bricks that would tone in well with the exiting palette. The resulting facades use texture, depth and detail to create elevations that feel both familiar and distinctly contemporary.
The corner building features Northcot's redbrown multi and uses articulated brick detailing and clay infill panels to frame the windows and add rhythm and shadow to the elevations. Although the architects originally proposed terracotta infills, Thorp suggested using Ketley quarry tiles, having worked on many projects with Ketley before and visited the Brierley Hill factory. Confident in Ketley's bespoke capabilities, Thorp commissioned large 200 × 200mm square quarry tiles with a dovetail key, that would harmonise with the surrounding brick tones of Northcot's redbrown multi. The special dovetail key would enable Thorp to achieve a secure fixing within the concrete panels.
Thorp set out all the brickwork before casting the precast panels and installing them all onsite. The special quarry tiles, 200 × 200mm, were cast diagonally into panels creating a subtle geometric pattern that would stand out as a crafted detail, even though the brick and tile colours blend seamlessly across the façade. The Northcot bricks are relatively soft and could be vulnerable to freeze thaw damage beneath the infill panels and the recessed windows where water could potentially sit. All Ketley products are made to class A specifications with extremely low water absorption and are highly resistant to the forces of freeze thaw. Ketley were commissioned to make special bespoke bullnosed cill tiles, also with a dovetail key, to be cast into the facade and protect the softer brickwork beneath and ensure long‑term durability.
The scheme also incorporates considerable new public landscaped areas, both green spaces and public realm, which are still being completed by Sisk. Oobe Landscape Architects specified Ketley Staffordshire blue square‑edged plain pavers and diamond chequer pavers, alongside a series of bespoke pressed pavers designed to introduce crafted, artistic elements that reflect the creativity and heritage of the Jewellery Quarter. Images to come!
