03 · Material Performance Masonry — Engineering Brick Study
The takeaway

Dark brick doesn't reflect light — it keeps it.

Measured luminous reflectance across six surface finishes under identical daylight. The near-black engineering brick returns the least light to the room — the somber interior is a property of the material, not the lamps.

Reflectance · % of incident light
62
Lime plaster
48
Pale sandstone
31
Oak panel
22
Soot mortar
14
Cast iron
6.4
Helsingborg brick
Source: Surface luminance survey, St Petri reference panels · 2024 Masonry 14 / 28
This is the Lewerentz Dark Brick design system, applied by Curio Design — a design-style library for AI agents. Full Lewerentz Dark Brick guide → designbycurio.com/learn/sigurd-lewerentz-brick