York Handmade shortlisted for four major awards in brick industry Oscars
The York Handmade Brick Company, one of the leading independent brickmakers in the country, has been shortlisted in four categories in the prestigious 2025 Brick Awards.
York Handmade, based at Alne, near Easingwold, in North Yorkshire, is short-listed for projects at York Racecourse (Sustainability); Clare College, Cambridge (two categories, Craftsmanship and Specialist Brickwork Contractor) and a brand-new Swiss hotel in Martigny (Worldwide)
The Brick Awards will be presented at a glittering ceremony at the Royal Lancaster Hotel in the heart of London’s West End on Wednesday November 5. Run by the Brick Development Association, they are the brick industry’s Oscars, celebrating the world’s greatest clay brick architecture and craftsmanship.
The ceremony will be hosted by renowned impressionist and broadcaster Jon Culshaw.
The Brick Awards celebrate the very best clay brick architecture and designs in the global built environment. The awards have attracted entries from housebuilders, developers, architects and contractors across 17 hotly contested categories.
York Handmade Chairman David Armitage said: “We are tremendously proud to have been shortlisted for these three fantastic projects in four different categories this year.
“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 these three short-listed projects 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.”
Guy Armitage, managing director of York Handmade, explained: “These projects are a fantastic showcase for us, illustrating what we do best. For example, sustainability is at the heart of what we do and our work on the new Bustardthorpe Stand and Roberto Pavilion at York Racecourse is a great example of this, with our bricks being manufactured only 13 miles away from the racecourse.
“Meanwhile our work at Clare College formed an upgrade of the Old Court Building, a transformational project for the college ensuring that the Grade 1 listed building is equipped to meet the needs of 21st century education.
“This is another success story in our long track record of quality heritage and conservation projects, while the Martigny hotel used our Viking blend in a creative way resulting in a distinctive high-visual impact on the finished building.”
Speaking about York Handmade’s work at York Racecourse, Chief Executive William Derby enthused: “York Handmade Brick is our brick supplier of choice and has been for some time. The previous development of the Northern End of the racecourse and transformation of the parade ring, weighing room and saddling boxes also used York Handmade and resulted in award-winning, world-class facilities for horses, jockeys and racegoers in 2015/16.
“We wanted the Southern End development of our buildings at York to complement the quality and heritage of this development as part of our 20-year masterplan to transform the facility at York Racecourse as one of the best racecourses in the world. The transformation of the Southern End of the racecourse has now been completed We are thrilled with the finish, quality and architectural these high-quality bricks give to the area which have improved the facilities and race day experience for our racegoers.
“We are proud to have worked in partnership with York Handmade Brick to deliver this scheme. Their contribution has been magnificent and strengthens what is already a brilliant relationship between us. It is wonderful to have such an accomplished quality brick-manufacturing company on our doorstep.
York Handmade has a tremendous track record in the Brick Awards, being highly commended for its work in 2023 in the Individual Housing and the Refurbishment categories for its work on Green Acres, a stunning new detached house in Effingham in Surrey, and for Holy Trinity Church in the heart of Sunderland, respectively.
These commendations come hard on the heels of York Handmade’s success in the RIBA Stirling Prize 2022, which the company’s Magdalene College Library project in Cambridge won.
The company was also honoured for its work on St Albans Cathedral in 2021 and for both the Peter Hall Performing Arts Centre at Perse School in Cambridge and the Loxley Stables residential housing project in Hertfordshire in 2019. In 2018 the company was honoured for its involvement in the acclaimed Westgate Centre in the heart of historic Oxford and for the magnificent Halifax Library.
Going further back in time, York Handmade won a hat-trick of categories in 2012 with the triumph of Four Oaks in Little Bedwyn; Tupgill Cellar, near Middleham, North Yorkshire; and Chetham’s School of Music, Manchester, while other prestigious wins included the Walled Garden at Scampston Hall in 2004 and St Brigid’s Church, Belfast, in 1995.
To find out more about the shortlisted categories and all the nominations, please visit www.brick.org.uk/brick-awards
For further information, please contact David Armitage of York Handmade on 01347 838881 or Robert Beaumont of Robert Beaumont Associates on 01423 323139. Alternatively, visit www.yorkhandmade.co.uk