A Brick That Lets Threatened Birds Build Nests Directly Into Walls
- 12:30 pm |
Birds build nests in the oddest of places. “You often find them nesting under loose tiles or in old broken vents in the side of buildings,” says Aaron Dunkerton, an England-based designer. But as buildings are patched up to improve insulation and green space disappears due to urbanization, sparrows are losing a sizable chunk of their nesting options. Over the last three decades, the U.K. house sparrow population has decreased around 70 percent, and the bird has found itself on the growing list of endangered species. Dunkerton, a student at Kingston University in England, aimed to solve the problem with the Bird Brick, a fire-clamped cavity brick that could be built into walls and buildings to provide a sustainable nesting site for the birds.
Dunkerton’s design consists of five hand-made bricks that assemble to create a small, round opening that’s plugged with a brick stopper. The hole is 1.25 inches diagonally, which makes it large enough for a sparrow (or other smaller bird varieties) to nest comfortably, but small enough to keep out unwanted visitors. The idea is that builders would install a cluster of three or four Bird Bricks during the construction of new buildings. “House sparrows are extremely sociable birds and like to nest in small little colonies,” Dunkerton notes. Ideally, the bricks would sit anywhere from 6 to 15 feet from the ground.
Dunkerton figured brick was low-maintenance and could be easily incorporated into much of England’s architecture, but more importantly, the material boasts thermal properties that will help to keep bird eggs safe. Brick, unlike a material like terra cotta, has low thermal and moisture variations, meaning it slowly absorbs heat throughout the day and releases it at night. This prevents eggs from getting too hot or too cold, making it a stable environment during breeding season. “Many people suggested that I could have done the same thing with just a brick facade and a cavity of a different material, but I feel my design is more honest,” Dunkerton explains, “and because of this has all the structural and material benefits of the brick, as well as being produced in a relatively sustainable and economical way.”
The designer enlisted the help of MBH Freshfield Lane, a company that specializes in making hand-crafted bricks, to cast his molds. He’ll begin testing his Bird Bricks next spring (he missed this year’s breeding season), and is in talks with his local city council about how to incorporate this into building regulations. “The dream would be that this design became a piece of legislation, and that all new builds must include two or three of these into all new build properties and extension,” he said. “If this were to happen, think of all the nesting sites that would be provided for not only house sparrows, but other small birds as well.”