Although the brickmaking site at Torrensville has now been redeveloped into a
shopping centre, the original Hoffman kiln built by Job Hallett & Son still remains. It is the only one in South Australia that has not been demolished.
The Hoffman kiln was invented in Germany in the 1800s as an introduction to continuous kilns where the fire was never put out. Bricks were efficiently fired - being loaded, pre-heated, fired, cooled and unloaded continuously. This resulted in negligible wastage. The kiln design was enormous and had a rectangular plan with one long vaulted chamber, rows of firing ports and a central chimney stack.
As a tribute to the site's brickworks history, there is a mural along the amenities corridor inside the shopping centre. The kiln itself can easily be seen from the carpark.
