Materials & Philosophy · Spring Branch
Breaking the Mold: The Vision Behind Spring Branch.
At Onward, we choose not to think inside the "white box" in which so many of today's builders are stuck. Instead, we see the world through a kaleidoscope of color, texture, and architectural form.
From its graceful, Tudor-inspired lines and custom terra cotta chimney pots to its authentic reclaimed brick, our Spring Branch project is unlike anything else on the market.
This isn't synthetic stucco or generic cement board — it is solid, permanent masonry. More importantly, it isn't the insipid, high-maintenance painted white brick that dominates today's cookie-cutter developments. We build with brick of a color, character, and pedigree that has truly stood the test of time.
The Philosophy
What Brick Symbolizes.
Permanence and Resilience
To Build With Brick Is to Build for the Future.
That is the core philosophy at Onward Development Group. Unlike wood that rots, or stucco that mildews and leaks, brick represents stability, safety, and a defiance against time. It is no coincidence that in the timeless fable of The Three Little Pigs, it is the brick house that survives the storm.
The Power of the Collective
Community, Teamwork, and Collective Strength.
A single brick is fragile and easily broken. But when bound together with mortar, thousands of individual units form an unyielding structure. Because of this, the brick is a classic symbol of community, teamwork, and collective strength — reflecting Onward's own foundation of more than 40 years of shared industry experience.
To honor this legacy of durability and craftsmanship, our Spring Branch project is built with authentic Chicago common brick.
The Story of Our Brick
How Local Mud Built an Architectural City.
If you look closely at the sides and backs of vintage buildings across Chicago, you will notice a rich patchwork of rough, distinctively colored masonry — shading from warm salmon pink and buff yellow to deep, soot-stained charcoal. These are Chicago common bricks: a historic building material born out of ancient geology, forged by catastrophe, and transformed into a highly coveted modern luxury.
Here is the story of how local mud built one of America's greatest architectural cities — and how it found a second life in Spring Branch.
01
A Geological Foundation: 14,000 Years in the Making
The story of our brick doesn't start in a kiln; it starts with the Ice Age. About 13,800 years ago, as massive glaciers retreated from the Midwest, they left behind Lake Chicago (the prehistoric ancestor of Lake Michigan).
As these glaciers scraped across the continent, they ground up massive deposits of sand, iron, and limestone, leaving them in the clay beds of what would become the Chicago River.
The Special Blend: This local clay was highly unique, packed with iron and tiny fragments of limestone (the calcified remains of ancient marine life).
The Color Alchemy: When fired, the varying amounts of limestone and iron reacted unpredictably to the heat, creating a volatile, beautiful spectrum of colors — buff, yellow, pink, and gray — rather than a uniform, manufactured red.
02
The Catalyst: The Great Chicago Fire of 1871
Before 1871, Chicago was a city built almost entirely of wood. The Great Chicago Fire exposed the fatal flaw of this design, wiping out more than 17,500 structures. When another massive fire struck in 1874, the city government drew a line in the sand, strictly banning wood construction. Chicago needed to rebuild, it needed to be fireproof, and it needed to happen immediately.
Before 1871, Chicago was a city built almost entirely of wood. The Great Chicago Fire exposed the fatal flaw of this design, wiping out more than 17,500 structures. When another massive fire struck in 1874, the city government drew a line in the sand, strictly banning wood construction. Chicago needed to rebuild, it needed to be fireproof, and it needed to happen immediately.
Year
Cook County Brickyards in Operation
1871
5
1881
60
Because raw brick was too heavy and costly to ship by rail, builders looked straight down. The abundant, glacial clay lining the Chicago River became the literal foundation of the city's resurrection.
03
Why Were They Called "Common"?
Originally, the term "common brick" wasn't a compliment — it was a class distinction.
Because the local clay was full of mineral imperfections, the bricks came out of the kilns rough, porous, and wildly inconsistent in color. Furthermore, where the bricks touched each other inside the kilns, they formed dark, distinct discoloration marks called flashpoints.
Nineteenth-century architects deemed these bricks too "ugly" for front-facing facades. Instead, wealthy homeowners imported expensive, chemically uniform "face bricks" from Ohio or Indiana for the street side of their homes. Chicago commons were relegated to the places people weren't supposed to look: the side alleys, the backyards, and the interior structural walls.
04
The Rise and Fall of an Empire
By 1915, Chicago's brick industry was a global juggernaut, producing 10% of all bricks made in the United States — over a billion bricks a year. Eventually, these independent yards consolidated into the monolithic Illinois Brick Company.
However, the late 20th century brought strict environmental regulations. In 1970, the newly formed EPA required brick companies to completely modernize their historic coal- and oil-fired kilns to meet emissions standards. Facing millions of dollars in compliance costs, the Illinois Brick Company chose to close its doors. The last Chicago common brick kiln shut down forever in 1981.
Today
A Finite, Sustainable Luxury.
Because no new Chicago commons can ever be manufactured, the existing supply is a finite, antique resource. What was once considered a cheap, utility building material is now prized globally for its rich, industrial aesthetic.
Whenever a historic Chicago warehouse or multi-flat building is decommissioned, architectural salvage crews carefully harvest, clean, and palletize the bricks by hand.
How to Spot the Real Thing Luxury.
If you see a wall made of authentic Chicago brick, the colors will be beautifully random — a soot-black brick nested against a bright salmon pink and a warm cream. Because these bricks are salvaged from entirely different historic buildings and completely different centuries-old batches of clay, they create a stunning, chaotic mosaic that modern manufacturing simply cannot replicate.
Spring Branch
By utilizing reclaimed Chicago common brick at Spring Branch, Onward is not only investing in an unmatchable aesthetic heritage, but also practicing true environmental sustainability by giving historical materials a permanent second life.
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