Masonry in Australia-meeting the challenges of the 21st century

Masonry in its various forms is a widely used material for commercial and residential buildings in Australia. However, in recent years, its use and market share in some applications have diminished due to a range of commercial and social factors. These have included the development of alternative walling systems and materials; increasing on-site labour costs and shortage of skilled bricklayers; embodied energy and sustainability issues; perceived seismic vulnerability; negative perceptions of masonry by some architects, engineers and specifiers; and the lack of masonry material in engineering and architecture undergraduate and other training programs. To address these trends and to keep masonry contemporary in design, over the past decade the masonry industry has embarked on a range of marketing, research and educational initiatives. These initiatives are continuing but significant progress has already been made. This paper describes these challenges, appropriate solutions and some positive outcomes to date