A BRICK company has been highly commended for its contribution to a cathedral in the national 2021 Brick Awards.

York Handmade Brick Company, based at Alne, near Easingwold, was shortlisted for three awards, following the company’s role in the new library at Magdalene College, Cambridge; the restoration of St Albans Cathedral in Hertfordshire; and the new Valentine House at Allostock in Cheshire.

St Albans Cathedral was highly commended in the public category and has also won a string of other coveted regional and national awards, including the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA)’s East Award and East Conservation Award 2021.

The Brick Awards were presented at a glittering ceremony at the Royal Lancaster Hotel in the heart of London’s West End. Run by the Brick Development Association in conjunction with Building magazine, they are the brick industry’s Oscars.

York Handmade chairman David Armitage said: “We are tremendously proud to have been shortlisted for these three fantastic projects this year and to be highly commended for our work at St Albans Cathedral.

“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 entries 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.

“St Albans is the home of some of the earliest examples of brick use in Roman Britain, so as a brick-maker, we are very humbled to supply one of the birth places of brick in the UK. St Albans Cathedral stands on the site of St Alban's execution and burial. He was the first Christian British martyr,” said Mr Armitage.

Andy Davey of Edinburgh-based architects Simpson and Brown, who worked with York Handmade on the St Albans project, added: “To be highly commended in such a competitive shortlist is a real honour. Having worked with York Handmade previously on a number of prestigious projects, including the major remodelling of York Art Gallery, we were delighted to re-establish our relationship for the creation of the new Visitor and Learning Centre at St Albans Cathedral.”