Building Brilliance: Celebrating success at the 2024 BDA Brick Awards

The 2024 Brick Development Association Brick Awards celebrated outstanding achievements across the UK construction industry, underscoring the importance of craftsmanship, sustainability, and innovation in brickwork. wienerberger, played a key role in many winning projects, showcasing not only the versatility of our products but also the evolving potential of brick in modern architecture.

Here's a list of the winning projects using wienergerber products:

Best Individual House – Six Columns | Staffordshire Smooth Brown
Best Small Housing Development – Manresa House | Pagus Grey
Specialist Brickwork Contractor – Cara Brickwork | Monk Bridge project
Best Worldwide – Sandford Lodge | Bronsgreon

Let’s pick up more of the story… held at the prestigious Royal Lancaster Hotel, the awards night brought together architects, contractors, and developers, all unified by their dedication to excellence in brickwork. With categories ranging from Urban Regeneration to Innovation, the event highlighted projects that went above and beyond in design, environmental impact, and community integration.

For wienerberger, this year’s awards underline the significance of brick as a sustainable building material that contributes to both aesthetic and functional goals in construction. Winning projects utilising wienerberger products emphasise how contemporary design can blend seamlessly with traditional materials, showing the industry's commitment to building a resilient and sustainable future.

Picking up the Individual Housing Category, well done to 31/44 Architects for Six Columns in London, a home designed to accommodate a family within their existing neighbourhood. This project featured our Staffordshire Smooth Brown brick and the judges commented “This project consists of an enjoyable collection of living spaces heightened by connection to garden. The project skillfully navigates the corner plot to maximise both street engagement and garden privacy. The clay bricks were well chosen and added to the overall design impact from the street.”

OMI Architects were approached by The Society of Jesus, otherwise known as the Jesuits, to alter and extend their existing novitiate in Harborne, Birmingham known as Manresa House. Considered, by the community, as a ‘monastery in the city’, the building provides a home for new entrants into the Society to spend the first two years of their training mentored and supported by the permanent senior community.

Using our Pagus Grey bricks, the scheme consists of 24 bedrooms for guests, novices and senior community as well as a dining room, kitchen, offices, meeting rooms, a library and a new chapel. Based on historic monastic arrangements the building was conceived as a series of wings which radiate out from a retained nineteenth century house and these wings allow for varying degrees of privacy to be maintained whilst also giving clear legibility to each of the building elements sat within a large garden area. They managed to transform the space into a building  described by judges as "The extensive use of clay brick, both internally and externally works well. The project blends well into the local residential area and provides a suitable and safe environment for the training priests and the supporting staff at Manresa House". This great work enabled the project to collect the Best Small Housing Development prize beating off stiff competition.

Our congratulations go Cara Brickwork for their work on Monk Bridge in Leeds which picked up the Specialist Brickwork Contractor Award. Cara Brickwork has established itself as a reputable name in the UK construction industry, operating from offices in the North West and Yorkshire. They remain dedicated to fostering the next generation of skilled workers, ensuring a steady supply of talent in the construction industry. Their commitment to training and development benefits their apprentices and enhances the overall quality and sustainability of the construction sector.

Cara Brickwork invest heavily in training, with approximately 50% of their workforce participating in programmes at any one time. In making the award, the judges said “In Cara, we could see a business that cared about its people and also the communities that it worked in. It was evident from the drive of the senior leadership team, which cascaded through the business, that Cara invest in the future of their business with apprenticeships but also in how they monitor quality as part of their works."

Finally, we come to the Worldwide Award. The winner this year is a Shay Cleary Architects project at Sandford Lodge in Ireland. The project in Dublin represents a landmark achievement in sustainable urban development. This project showcases how innovative design, sustainable materials, and advanced technologies can come together to create modern, eco-friendly living spaces in an urban setting. Spearheaded by wienerberger using the beautiful Bronsgroen brick, in collaboration with leading architects and sustainability experts, Sandford Lodge Apartments set a new standard for environmentally conscious construction in Ireland. This resulted in the judges commenting “Architectural excellence has to be demonstrated both in a rigorously clear concept design and in the beautiful realisation in bricks and mortar of the proposal. We feel this project really responds to both criteria."

Celebrating these successes is vital, not only to acknowledge the hard work and dedication of those in the industry but also to inspire the next generation of architects, builders, and developers. The 2024 Brick Awards remind us that excellence in construction doesn’t just shape our buildings—it shapes our communities and our future.