Construction National

York Handmade wins prestigious award at the brick oscars

The York Handmade Brick Company, one of the leading independent brickmakers in the country, has won the Sustainability category in the prestigious 2025 Brick Awards.

York Handmade, based at Alne, near Easingwold, in North Yorkshire, triumphed for its acclaimed brickwork at York Racecourse.

The company was also shortlisted in two categories (Craftsmanship and Specialist Brickwork Contractor) for its work at Clare College, Cambridge, and in the Worldwide category for a brand-new Swiss hotel in Martigny (Worldwide).

The Brick Awards were held at a glittering ceremony at the Royal Lancaster Hotel in the heart of London’s West End. 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 was hosted by renowned impressionist and broadcaster Jon Culshaw.

York Handmade’s winning entry featured work at the new Bustardthorpe Stand and Roberto Pavilion at York Racecourse.

Commenting on York Handmade’s winning entry, the Brick Awards’ judges praised the project’s “holistic approach, which considered every aspect of design and construction to minimise environmental impact, from using 70,000 locally handmade bricks to incorporating solar panels, rainwater harvesting, and a living green roof.

“The adaptive reuse of existing structures, the use of locally sourced and natural materials, and the integration of smart building systems were highlighted as particularly impressive. Overall, the development was recognised as a model of sustainable, community-focused design that delivers measurable environmental benefits while enhancing the local context.

“Congratulations to the teams behind this inspiring project, a shining example of how sustainability, design, and craftsmanship can come together to shape a better built environment.”

York Handmade Managing Director Guy Armitage said: “We are tremendously proud to have won the Sustainability Award this year and have also been shortlisted for two other fantastic projects. This is a great honour.

“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 these projects were 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 fitting that our major success was in the Sustainability category, as sustainability is at the heart of what we do. Our winning entry, the new Bustardthorpe Stand and Roberto Pavilion at York Racecourse, is such a great example of this, with our bricks being manufactured only 12 miles away from the racecourse.

Speaking about York Handmade’s winning work at York Racecourse, Chief Executive William Derby enthused: “We have been thrilled with the reaction of racegoers and visitors to the Bustardthorpe Development at York Racecourse following its first full season of use in 2025.

“This multi-million-pound development has transformed the facilities and built environment in this area of the racecourse, delivering new racegoer lawns under the Churchill Tyres canopy, transforming the catering, betting and viewing facilities including the popular Theakston’s bar, Guiness Pavilion and Kylie bar.

“The development was designed with sustainability at its core as part of York Racecourse’s Green Knavesmire 300 strategy with solar panels, rainwater harvesting, a living wildflower roof and 70,000 high specification bricks from York Handmade Bricks, based just 12 miles from the racecourse.  We are therefore so proud that the Bustardthorpe development won the Sustainability category at the national and prestigious Brick Development Association Awards.”

Kevin Dawson, director of Dawson Williamson Architects, added: “We were pleased to win the Sustainability category at the Brick Development Association Awards for our recent work on the Bustardthorpe Development at York Racecourse, working in partnership with York Handmade Brick

“Our contribution forms an important part of the Green Knavesmire 300 Strategy and the broader commitment to achieving Net Zero by 2040, positioning York as one of the most sustainable racecourses in the world.”

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.

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