Corobrik Kwastina factory in full production

In a first for the South African market, Corobrik's new R800 million state-of-the-art manufacturing facility at Kwastina will have the flexibility to produce small quantities of bespoke products for the architectural segment.  Kwastina (‘Home of the Brick’) is fully automated, from mixing the raw materials to the end product. Capable of producing 100 million bricks a year, the new factory will easily be able to meet larger-volume orders.

Touted as the most technologically advanced and environment friendly brick-manufacturing plant in Africa, Kwastina is testament to innovation.

The project was completed on budget, despite a three-month delay due to the Covid-19 hard lockdown in 2020.

“If the government rolls out what it plans to, in terms of infrastructure like clinics, hospitals, police stations and schools, then Kwastina is ideally placed to make those projects more cost-effective and efficient. It is going to give us an advantage in the market, not just in terms of technology, but also in quality and consistency, which are critical for specifications involving tight tolerances,” says Corobrik CEO Nick Booth.

Corobrik is already hard at work extending its product range, with a number of new products being introduced already. Current trials are being carried out with brick glazing for bespoke projects, as well as the clay raw material to produce different colours to give Kwastina a unique footprint in the country.

Booth concludes that the commissioning process went smoothly, with no major hiccups in the process. “It was a privilege to see Kwastina through to fruition.” He ascribes the success of the project to detailed planning and the fact that tried-and-tested technology has been used, mainly imported from German suppliers.