York Handmade in line to win a brick Oscar
Posted by The Editor
The York Handmade Brick Company, one of the leading independent brickmakers in the country, has been shortlisted in two categories in the prestigious 2026 Brick Awards.
York Handmade, based at Alne, near Easingwold, in North Yorkshire, is short-listed for projects at 3 Circle Square in Manchester (Commercial category); and the Schwarzman Centre for Humanities in Oxford (Education category).
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 4. Run by the Brick Development Association, they are the brick industry’s Oscars.
The Brick Awards, which showcase the best clay brick architecture and designs in the global built environment, celebrate their 50th anniversary this year. They have attracted entries from housebuilders, developers, architects and contractors across 17 hotly contested categories.
York Handmade managing director Guy Armitage said: “We are tremendously proud to have been shortlisted for these two fantastic projects 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 important to stress that these two 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.”
He explained: “These projects are a fantastic showcase for us, illustrating what we do best. For example, 3 Circle Square in Manchester, for which we provided 385,000 specially manufactured bricks, is one of the most significant contracts in our 37-year history.
“The contract was worth £580,000 and was a resounding endorsement of our recent decision to invest £1.5m in brand-new machinery. It was a privilege to supply our beautiful bricks for a major commercial development in the heart of a great UK city.”
Speaking about York Handmade’s work at 3 Circle Square in Manchester, which was named the best new building in the annual Manchester Chamber of Commerce awards this year, architect Russell Bridge commented: “The brick choice for 3 Circle Square was critical to the facade design's success, which incorporated both standard and long format bricks.”
Meanwhile the £185m Stephen A. Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities in Oxford was built using prefabricated brickwork envelopes manufactured by the York Handmade Brick Company. The project involved circa 116,860 Byland Genuine Handmade/Bench thrown bricks with Bow-Tie Keys to suit pre-fabrication.
York Handmade has a tremendous track record in the Brick Awards. Last year it won the Sustainability category for its acclaimed brickwork at York Racecourse.
The company was highly 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.
