Library project hailed at awards

Halifax library: Project was highly commended.

The outstanding library project was honoured in the Public Building category.

The Brick Awards, which are organised by the Brick Development Association and are regarded as the Oscars of the brick industry, were recently held at a glittering ceremony in central London.

York Handmade chairman David Armitage said: “We were very proud to receive recognition for our work on the Westgate Centre and Halifax Library and to know that they were strong contenders on a highly competitive short list.

“Brick was alive and well at the awards and it is great our entries were right in the mix.

“Hopefully we can go one better next year and be an outright category winner. We have an excellent history in the Brick Awards.

“We first won an award in 1995 with the Supreme Brick Building award for St Brigid’s Church in Belfast.

“We haven’t looked back since then, holding our own against our bigger and better-known competitors.”

In 2015, York Handmade won the Best Outdoor Space category in the brick awards for its “magnificent achievement” in restoring the Belvedere and Queen Elizabeth Walled Garden at Dumfries House in Scotland – a pioneering restoration project masterminded by Prince Charles.

The firm also won a hat-trick of categories in 2012.