The Great Fire of London (1666) was a major cause for changes in building materials because the scale of it's devastation of the, largely wooden at the time, city London. Additionally following this event regulations were set in place forbidding houses constructed of materials other than stone or brick.

Brick, however, was quite popular amongst Germans and other areas influenced by the Hanse where a unique architectural style began as far back as the 1100s, examples of this can be seen in Germany, Poland, Scandinavia and much of the Baltic (particularly in areas where the Teutonic Order had a presence).