In this interview, Krause Bricks shares the story behind its family-owned Australian business, exploring its 80-year heritage of handmade brickmaking, what sets its products apart, and its commitment to sustainability. The conversation also highlights award-winning architectural projects, the benefits of Australian manufacturing, and the company’s vision for the future of bespoke brick design.
Tell us a bit about Krause Bricks and what you do.
Krause Bricks is an Australian, family owned brick manufacturer that has been handcrafting clay bricks since 1945.
Founded by Jack Krause in the Victorian goldfields town of Stawell, the business is now led by third generation Managing Director and Master Brickmaker Klynton Krause, working alongside his father Patrick.
Every brick is still hand pressed using traditional methods passed down through three generations, drawing on clay sourced in Stawell to achieve our distinctive range of colours and textures.
We supply architects, builders and homeowners nationally with a range spanning extruded and pressed bricks, pavers, cladding and fully custom products.
What makes your product different from others in the market?
Every Krause brick is genuinely handmade, so no two are ever quite the same. We love celebrating that individuality, the rich, naturally occurring depth of colour and the textural variety that comes through in every batch, and the character each brick takes on as it’s shaped by hand.
We back that craft with real capability, including custom sizes, shapes, colours and glazes for individual projects, and a dedicated national team supporting architects with technical guides and specification support.
Krause Bricks have won the Horbury Hunt Award, Australia’s most prestigious brick architecture prize, the last three years in a row.
What steps has Krause Bricks taken toward sustainability, whether in materials, energy use, or waste reduction?
Our manufacturing process is close to zero waste: around 6 to 8 percent of every standard brick is made up of offcuts or surplus material, and this is reintegrated directly back into production rather than sent to landfill. We use a completely natural material, with no synthetic binders, plasticisers or coatings, drawing on a mix of local and other trusted clay sources.
Clay brick itself is also inherently durable and long lived, keeping material out of landfill for generations and reducing lifecycle emissions compared with materials that need replacing or repainting.
All Krause Bricks sold since January 2023 are also carbon neutral under the Climate Active Carbon Neutral Standard, with our footprint independently assessed and offset quarterly through GreenFleet.
Being Australian-made, what does that mean for your supply chain and quality control?
Being Australian made means we have direct oversight of our supply chain and quality control. Our own clay pit sits less than a kilometre from our Stawell, Victoria factory, giving us close oversight from clay to finished product and direct control over quality at every stage.
Across the business, including our factory team and our sales and technical support people based around the country, we employ 60 people. Continuous investment in kiln technology and quality control has modernised our facility over the years without compromising the handmade character that defines every Krause brick, and it’s part of how we’ve been able to deliver incredible projects with architects right across Australia and New Zealand.
What’s a project – residential, commercial, or civic – that best shows off what Krause Bricks can do?
Burnt Earth Beach House, perched on a hill in Anglesea, Victoria, is a standout example of what’s possible with Krause brick.
Designed by John Wardle, who had previously collaborated with us on Phoenix Central Park and the Monash University Learning and Teaching Building, the project uses custom Krause bricks in terracotta developed specifically for this build.
The bricks are extruded and then torn by hand, so every piece is unique. A glaze was applied to the raw clay before a single firing, and the glazes reacted differently across the batch, some absorbing into the clay, others pooling and liquefying, giving the facade extraordinary depth and variation.
Inside, the hand torn brickwork is paired with terracotta floor and wall tiles, and the result is a home that feels warm, textured and deeply connected to the Australian landscape.
The project went on to win the Think Brick Horbury Hunt Award, an AlA National Award for Residential Architecture (New), an AlA Victoria Award for Residential Architecture (New) and an AlA Victoria Award for Interior Architecture, all in 2024.
What’s next for Krause Bricks?
We’re working with some incredibly talented architects and designers on a number of exciting projects at present, where brick is being explored across an increasingly diverse range of formats and applications, defining structure, surface, threshold and interior space in ways that reimagine what the material can do within the built environment.
We’re proud to be designing and developing bespoke products alongside these practices, shaping bricks specifically for the vision of each project. At the same time, we remain committed to continuous research and development, always refining our craft and exploring new forms, finishes and applications, to create superior, unique brick products for the built environment, now and into the future.
To find out more about Krause Bricks, visit their website here.
