The Sydney Blue Face brick was popular in the 1920s and 30s and was used in Federation and Californian Bungalow style houses. In many instances it was used only along the face of the house and common brick was used up the side. The unique dark blue/grey colour was created by both the type of clay and the firing process. The clay was dark and contained manganese minerals. The firing was done with coal as the fuel (wood was the fuel in earlier days and gas replaced coal in later years) and the higher temperature and longer burn also contributed to the colour.
The unusual colour makes it difficult to co-ordinate well with other colours in a house, particularly terracotta roof tiles. One example where the Sydney Blue Face brick compliments the house is where the highlights and colour trims around the windows and gutters are a grey mauve colour combined with a darker duck egg blue. A similar bold colour combination on any house built with Sydney Blue Face bricks would work well. The trim colours used were; Mauve – Taubmans ‘Far Horizon’, Blue – Dulux ‘Horizon Blue’ and Cream – Dulux ‘Cultured Pearl’.
Further information
Authentic reproductions of the Sydney Blue Face brick can be obtained from The Brick Pit, Lane Cove Road, North Ryde, NSW, 2113. Phone: (02) 9888 7888. Standard bricks cost 85 cents and bullnose cost $2.