Load-bearing clay bricks are being increasingly used to build homes and offices in Saudi Arabia's western region, as builders realise their economic and thermal and aesthetic advantages, says local manufacturer El-Maimani.

Kasktas Arabia has won five contracts together worth over a million dollars in Makkah and Madinah this year and the ground engineering specialist is now looking towards better business prospects in 2002. "We specialise in piling and shoring work," says Idris Demircioglu, the general manager of the Jeddah-based firm.