"You can create all kinds of decorations using bricks on a facade"

Jan Christensen knows a lot about bricks and facades. It's evident when he talks about his work at Murpoolen in Skåne, Sweden. He started as a bricklayer and has worked at Murpoolen since 2006. When his boss heard he had IT skills, he was offered a new position in the estimation department. Nowadays, Jan works as an estimator, calculating different types of jobs, a position he enjoys.

"We primarily build brick facades. 90% of our projects are new constructions. Despite inflation, we estimate many jobs. Our customer base is large. Schools and other public sector property projects are still being built," says Jan.

Building with bricks is a whole science. It must be safe and sturdy but also beautiful and appealing. You can create all kinds of decorations using bricks on a facade. The bricks can be arranged in different ways to form patterns, known as bonds.

"We are currently working on constructing a new school, Malmö Citadelsgymnasium. The building will get a beautiful light-coloured brick facade. Bricks and mortar at Citadelsgymnasium are the same type but stacked and rotated in different bonds. It's a large school with a facade area of 6000 square meters," explains Jan.

To estimate the number of bricks and mortar needed for Malmö Citadelsgymnasium, Jan has used Geometra. He often receives quantity changes during a project, as new decisions are made, and plans are altered. For example, an ornamentation may change to look different than initially planned. In such cases, Geometra is a brilliant tool, as all bill of quantities are collected in one place, allowing for quick volume calculations.

"We sometimes use many different types of bricks in a project. In Geometra, we can colour-code each brick type to clarify this. It streamlines the entire process. ”Roll shift beam” is a type of decoration we can create on facades. When using the area as a measurement, we can easily calculate how many roll shift beams will be required," shares Jan.

Jan and his colleagues at Murpoolen frequently work with quantity adjustments in their projects. For this, they use the export tool in Geometra.

"We export our bill of quantities from Geometra and then compare them on-site with the progress made by the bricklayers. In Geometra, we can quickly recalculate the volume if needed. It's great for keeping track of the project's progress. We always start with the gross quantity and can compare it with the current status. We continuously use this method for project adjustments," concludes Jan.

Murpoolen in Skåne was established in 1995 on a small scale but has grown to become a leading company in brickwork and rendering throughout the Skåne region. Since 2017, Murpoolen has been part of Fasadgruppen Norden AB, the largest facade work corporation in the Nordicregion.

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Photo: Murpoolen i Skåne AB