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Northcot Brick’s flagship project, the Newport Street Gallery, won the ‘Supreme Award’ – the highest accolade given by the Brick Development Association in its annual ‘Brick Awards’.
The annual BDA Brick Awards recognise excellence in design and construction using brick.
The Newport Street Gallery not only claimed the 2016 ‘Supreme Award’ but also topped the ‘Best Public Building’ category. The judges were captivated by the ‘quietly spoken, assured confidence’ of the building, stating that the quality of the brickwork and associated detail was exceptionally high.
Northcot Brick also won a BDA ‘Supreme Award’ with Manchester’s Whitworth the previous year.
Designed by architects Caruso St John, the Newport Street Gallery occupies a terrace of new-build and refurbished blocks that line Newport Street’s eastern side opposite the elevated railway arches in Vauxhall, south London.
The project involved the conversion of three listed buildings, which had been purpose-built in 1913 as scenery painting workshops for the booming Victorian theatre industry in the West End. The gallery runs the length of the street, with the three Victorian buildings flanked at either side by new buildings.
The new semi-industrial facades were made with two distinct bespoke blends of brick, which were specially created by Northcot Brick, a manufacturer known for its advanced colour-matching expertise and traditional techniques, to closely match the ‘common’ style brick of the listed buildings.
The majority was constructed in Newport Light blend (181,000 bricks) a hard pale brick, and Newport Dark blend (17,000 bricks), both of which were laid in a mixture of header and stretcher bonds.
Michael Brown managing director Northcot Brick said: “It has been a privilege to work with Caruso St John and to be associated with such as prestigious and iconic building.
