[TheRitsman]

Originally Posted by Chronamut

At least kiwi has enough other visually interesting elements that the precast brick doesn't feel AS much of an intrusion - but yeah, real brick always feels more natural, although one has to be careful about spalling and efflorescence, issues which are not an issue with precast panels..

one place precast was really done well was on king street with that big retirement building down in the valley close to stoney creek - they did it so well you can't even tell, even gave different coloured bricks to make it look more natural.. I don't mind if they fake it, but make it look seamless if you're gonna do that..

one nice thing about bricks is the imperfections, like the older building beside it in the above picture - you can see its history over time.

Another building I feel pulls off the precast panels is the new police building. The brick sections are small enough that you never have seams.