Vogelensangh was built in 1918-1919 by company Dericks & Geldens in response to the significantly increasing demand for brick for home construction. The factory consists of a compression building and a coal-powered ring kiln, which was top of its game at the time.
The clay for the bricks is dug up in the nearby fields and deposited on the mound of clay, where it is left to “rot” for a few months. The clay is then scraped from the mound and transported by wheelbarrow to the compression building, where the clay is mixed. The heavy mixing is carried out by a clay mill powered by a steam machine. The clay is then thrown into the moulds by hand.
Once the bricks have adopted their correct shape, they are transported by horse and cart to one of the many wooden huts on the site. The bricks lie in these oblong buildings for weeks to dry in the wind.
Vogelensangh bricks are still built the same way as they were 100 years ago
Once dry, the bricks are transported to the ring kiln where they are stacked in the coldest room. The gate door is bricked up and the stokers make sure that the fire circulates from room to room in the ring kiln in 10 to 14 days.
After 10 days, the bricks are cooled enough to be removed from the kiln. They are stacked on the field of bags and sorted by colour. The heat of the coals and the flames of the ring kilns give the bricks all kinds of shades of colour. Bricks that were closer to the fire are bluer and bricks less close to the fire are red in colour.
Just like 100 years ago
At Steenfabriek Vogelensangh, bricks are still made the same way they were 100 years ago. Of course: the compressing and shaping machine now runs on electricity and the wooden huts have been replaced with drying buildings where the bricks are dried on hot air from the ring kiln. But the ring kiln works just like it did 100 years ago.
At Vogelensangh, you are therefore buying bricks that have been fired for 10 to 14 days on coal-powered fire. The original colours of the bricks are caused by the coals and the flames: not by colouring agents. Additives aren’t used either. The bricks are high quality and sustainable to use.