The annual Brick Awards have shown again this year the range and quality of buildings being constructed from clay bricks. Here’s our pick of some of the worthy winners…
The top award went to the Silvertown Tunnel portal control and support buildings designed by dRMM and built by AVV Solutions using Ketley Brick Company’s Staffordshire Blue stock.
The southern Greenwich portal has a curved facade constructed from double bullnose engineering bricks laid in a Flemish bond with recessed headers and joints, and the northern Silvertown portal is supported on a matching brick plinth. The judges commented: “Mock-ups and early builds ensured precision, while thoughtful use of bullnose bricks and well-executed movement joints enhanced the overall facade.”
Individual house
The award for an individual house went to the W house, a striking refurbishment and extension of a late Victorian semi in Fulham. Designed by Bureau de Change, it was constructed by contractor Property DMR using Forterra’s Cradley Smooth Buff stock.
The new volume at the rear of the house was inspired by pre-fabricated moulding details found in a historical joinery catalogue from a local Victorian craftsman. The mouldings have been re-interpreted using six special bricks, to create a volume that appears ”folded” at the large scale but also has intricate folding details at a small scale.
Small housing development
The winner of the sub-100-home housing development category was Lambton Park, in County Durham, a 70-house traditional-style development in the grounds of Lambton Castle, the ancestral seat of the Earl of Durham. Designed by Pod, the homes were built using Wienerberger’s Metro Mayfair Stock and Milano stock by Miller Homes.
Surrounding each entrance door are single and double cant bricks, which were cut and glued up to three times to achieve the required detail. English garden wall bond is used on each facade, while protruding brickwork at eaves level helps support the guttering.
Large housing development
The winning large housing development was Bulrush Court at Leaside Lock in Bromley by Bow. Designed by Pitman Tozer Architects, the scheme delivers 144 affordable homes in a mid-rise mansion block.
Stock used on the project was Ibstock’s Olde English Grey and Commercial Red and Michelmersh’s Avorio. The contractor was S&L Contracts. The building’s external envelope uses 102.5mm brickwork, structured into three main elements: the civic face, the courtyard elevation, and a darker plinth at ground level. The curved corners were made with snapped headers, avoiding the need for brick specials.
Innovation award
The innovation award went to Squire & Partners’ net zero workspace TIDE Bankside. To create the organic forms on the facade, waterjet cutting techniques – developed in collaboration with precast cladding specialists Thorp Precast – were used on brick for what is thought to be the first time. Waterjet cutting machines apply high-pressure steam to shape materials precisely, and shaping the Wienerberger Smeed Dean London stock produced zero waste because both halves of each brick were used in the columns.
You can find full details of all the winning buildings on the Brick Development Association’s website.
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