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Building components · Wall Leaves & Backing

Masonry Pier

Explains the pier as the means by which a slender masonry wall gains stiffness, which is easy to mistake for decoration.

Form:Unit or moduleRoles:StructureSupport

Educational reference entry. What this element has to do, and whether any particular arrangement of it is adequate, depends on the whole assembly, the loading, the exposure, local requirements, the manufacturer's instructions and qualified professional design.

Overview

What a pier is

A pier is a section of masonry thicker than the wall it belongs to. It does one of two things: it stiffens a wall that would otherwise be too slender to resist sideways forces, or it provides a concentrated bearing where a beam or truss lands.

In freestanding walls, piers are frequently the whole reason the wall stands, because a thin panel of masonry has very little resistance to being pushed over.

Boundaries

How it differs from nearby elements

The distinctions that keep this entry from being a restatement of its neighbours.

  • It is not a column. A column stands alone in a frame; a pier is part of a wall and works with it.
  • It is not a buttress in the traditional sense, though it does related work — a buttress projects and is commonly tapered, while a pier is a thickening within the wall's line or immediately off it.
  • It is not decoration, even where its rhythm reads as a design feature.

Terminology

Common names and aliases

These names describe the same element. The library keeps one entry per component so that a trade term or a regional name never becomes a second, thinner page.

  • piers
  • buttress pier
  • wall pier
  • return

Dependencies

What it depends on

What has to be right elsewhere for this element to do its job.

  • Being bonded into the wall, since a pier that is merely built against a wall does not stiffen it.
  • Its foundation, which carries more than the wall on either side of it.
  • Spacing along the wall, which determines how much unstiffened panel sits between piers.
  • What lands on it, where it is there to carry a concentrated load.

Considerations

Topics that genuinely apply here

Subjects worth discussing about this element. These are discussion topics, never measured values, ratings or performance claims.

Structural transfer

A pier concentrates load into its foundation, which is therefore different from the foundation under the wall between piers.

Movement

A change in section along a wall is also a change in stiffness, and movement joint arrangements have to account for it.

Durability

In freestanding walls piers are exposed on more faces than the wall itself and weather accordingly.

Buildability

Bonding into the wall as it is built is what makes a pier work, and it cannot be added convincingly afterwards.

Materials

Commonly formed from

Material families this element is commonly realised in. This states common practice only — it is not a statement that any of these materials suits this component in a particular building, which depends on the whole assembly and on qualified review.

Materials LibraryClay facing brick →Brick piers are the form most commonly met in freestanding and facing masonry.Materials LibraryConcrete block →Blockwork piers are common in structural and rendered walls.Materials LibraryEngineering brick →Met where exposure at the base of a pier is severe.Materials LibraryDressed stone blocks →Encountered in traditional walling where the pier is also a visible feature.

Assemblies

Building systems this element is met in

The role this component fills inside each assembly. A role describes what the element does there — it is not a statement that this component suits that system in any particular building.

Primary supportFreestanding Wall →Provides the stability that lets a slender free-standing panel of masonry stand.Primary supportLoad-Bearing Masonry →Stiffens the wall and provides bearing where concentrated loads arrive.Primary supportSolid Wall →Thickened sections give a solid wall the stiffness its thickness alone does not provide.

Where it is met

Application contexts

Building contexts where this element is commonly encountered. Association is not recommendation: appearing here does not mean the component suits every instance of that context, or any particular one.

  • Boundary Structure
  • External Wall

Clarifications

Commonly misunderstood

  • That piers in a garden wall are decorative. They are commonly what gives the wall its stability against wind.
  • That a pier can be added to an existing wall by building against it. Without bonding, the two elements do not act together.

Conversations

Questions for qualified professionals

Questions worth asking someone with the project in front of them. This page cannot answer them.

  • Are the piers in this wall providing stability, carrying load, or both?
  • How are they bonded into the wall?
  • What foundation is under each pier, given it carries more than the wall between?
  • How does the movement joint arrangement account for the change in section?

Go deeper

Related Build Design Hub guides

Planning guidance behind the decisions this element involves.

Preparation

Related planning checklists

Owner-side preparation before the conversation where this element comes up.

What this entry does not do

  • No spacing, size, bonding pattern or capacity is stated here.
  • Freestanding wall design, including pier provision, is structural work; unstable masonry walls are a safety matter.

Wall Leaves & Backing

The distinct vertical layers that make up a wall — outer and inner leaves, the cavity between them, and the backing that supports what is fixed to the face.

Browse all wall leaves & backing entries →