Dive Brief:

• British company Kite Bricks is developing a patented concrete product it calls Smart Brick that will be made to order for a specific project in the required shapes to fit together in a way that inevitably compares to LEGO blocks.
• The bricks, Kite Bricks says, have superior strength, as well as air spaces to provide thermal insulation and channels that make installation of plumbing and wiring easy — and they require less material to make and can come with interior and exterior finishes.
• Not prone to undue humility about its invention, Kite Bricks' website says: "The Smart Brick offers it all: high thermal control, full passage of pipes, wires, cables and the like, finishes for both indoors and outdoors, extraordinary tensile strength, ease of construction, safety of materials, and total application throughout a structure—floors, ceilings, and walls. The Smart Brick is the solution for building from Africa to Manhattan."

Dive Insight:

So when and where? The company does not say when Smart Bricks will hit the market, and it says only that "certain markets" will be first. It does say that no scaffolding will be required "as bricks come complete and their attachment does not require mortar or leveling...." There is no claim of an accompanying process to turn lead into gold, however.