This has been one of the
most exciting – and most successful – 12 months in the 33-year history of York
Handmade Brick and we are delighted that this is reflected in our entries for
the prestigious Brick Awards.
The Brick Awards, which
are organised by the Brick Development Association and are known as the Oscars
of the brick industry, celebrate the best examples of clay brick in our built
environment. Each year the awards attract the entry of exemplary projects from
leading architects, housebuilders, developers and contractors, across 17
hotly-contested categories.
The 2021 Brick Awards
ceremony will take place at the Royal Lancaster Hotel in the heart of London’s
West End on Wednesday November 10.
This year we are
incredibly proud of our entries, which underline the wide range of our work
across a number of sectors. These entries are: St Albans Cathedral in
Hertfordshire; One Molyneux, a stunning residential development in Marylebone
in London; the Porter’s Lodge at Jesus College, Cambridge; Valentine House, a
single residential development in Allostock in Cheshire; and the Epic Hotel in
Liverpool. In addition, Niall McLaughlin Architects are entering the
magnificent new library at Magdalene College, Cambridge, one of the finest
projects in which we have been involved, themselves.
Huge thanks are due to
the management team and employees at York Handmade for their imagination,
enterprise and hard work, which all combined to make these projects so
successful and so memorable. It is vitally important to stress that all our entries
are completely different jobs in design and execution, graphically illustrating
our ability to work in a wide variety of colours and styles. We believe we can
tackle any brickwork project successfully.
It is really difficult,
and invidious, to pick any of these projects out individually, as they all have
their stories and their strengths. But I’d like to say a few words about our
two Cambridge University commissions and about St Albans Cathedral. There is no
doubt that it was a tremendous honour to be asked to provide our bricks for
such a prestigious project as the new library at Magdalene College. The college
has a rich cultural heritage and this stunning new building reflects this. The
finished building is absolutely magnificent and provides a wonderful place for
Magdalene students to work. It is one of our flagship projects over the past
few years and we are proud of what we have achieved. Our specially chosen and
manufactured red bricks and specials complement the unique surroundings and fit
in with the college’s architecture and landscape.
We are equally proud of
our work on the new Porter’s Lodge at Jesus College. It is an immense privilege
to be associated with such important buildings and projects in historic and
sensitive environments like Cambridge University. It is also testament to the
renaissance of brick as the building material of choice for significant and
prestigious developments. 
Finally St Albans - I
think I am right in saying that St Albans is the home of some of the earliest
examples of brick use in Roman Britain, so as a brick-maker, we are very
humbled to supply one of the birth places of brick in the UK. St Albans
Cathedral stands on the site of St Alban's execution and burial. He was the
first Christian British martyr. The cathedral is the oldest place of continuous
Christian worship in the country and is a blend of architectural styles
spanning over a thousand years, containing some priceless original Roman
bricks. This order is one of the most important recently for us and it includes
several differently-shaped special bricks.
So we are really looking
forward to the awards ceremony in November – and are hoping very much that we
can play our very own starring role at the brick industry’s Oscars.