We're thrilled to invite you to Brick Works Birmingham, an exclusive evening hosted by the Brick Development Association in partnership with IG Masonry Support.
Join us on Thursday 25th June 2026 at the EH Smith Design Centre, for an evening filled with networking, insights, and celebration of clay brick architecture. This is a unique opportunity to connect with industry peers and explore the latest in brick innovation - we look forward to seeing you there!
What's Included?
Event Details
Venue: EH Smith Design Centre, 312 – 314 Bradford Street, Birmingham, B5 6ET
When: 5.30 PM - 8.30 PM
Join IG Masonry Support and Howells as they present Pershore Junction, a contemporary student accommodation development in Stirchley, Birmingham, designed to support the growing student populations of Aston University, University College Birmingham, and Birmingham City University.
Delivered on a former BT brownfield site for Alumno Developments, the 167-bed scheme combines studios, leisure facilities, retail space, and landscaped communal areas within a striking architectural form that responds sensitively to its surrounding Victorian neighbourhood.
Targeting a BREEAM ‘Excellent’ rating, Pershore Junction features expertly detailed red brickwork and terracotta elements, culminating in a distinctive curved bull-nose brick façade shaped by the site’s position between Pershore Road and Dogpool Lane. The project demonstrates how contemporary brick architecture can successfully combine sustainability, craftsmanship, and community-focused design.
Join Adam McPartland as he presents South Central Tower, a striking 30-storey residential development delivering 166 high-quality apartments. The scheme offers a mix of one, two, and three-bedroom homes, complemented by a range of shared amenities and commercial spaces to support vibrant city living.
Planning approval was secured in October 2020 following close engagement with Birmingham City Council’s design and planning teams.
The architectural approach reflects the distinctive character of this part of Birmingham, drawing inspiration from the city’s rich terracotta heritage. At the same time, the design incorporates a series of low-carbon strategies and technologies, ensuring the building is both environmentally responsible and future-ready.
The result is a development that not only responds to Birmingham’s historic identity but also contributes to its ongoing regeneration. The project is currently under construction, with completion anticipated in 2023.
Located in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter Conservation Area, The Pressworks transforms a disused mid-19th-century manufactory site into 48 new homes. At its heart is a Grade II listed building - a finely detailed example of industrial-era architecture. This project restores its character while introducing new buildings that engage directly with its historic context through contemporary brick design.
The scheme began by striping away poor-quality overbuild to reveal the original listed structure. From this, architectural details were drawn using modern materials and construction methods to produce a clear but respectful distinction between the listed building and proposed volumes. The two resultant street façades, which flank the listed building, employ varied detailing to establish unique but cohesive identities.
At ground level, 20mm rustication echoes the listed building’s terracotta blocks and continues vertically up the left-hand façades pilasters. Half-brick recessed panels and full-brick inset windows offer a dynamic façade while vertical stretcher bond over window heads reference the original self-supporting brick lintels. The right-hand block adopts a more simple, solid approach: Deep window reveals and stepped brick lintels create a simpler yet highly articulated façade. The emphasis here is on depth, precision, and the play of light and shadow across the brick surface.
The result is a carefully balanced composition where high-quality, self-supporting brick façades elevate both the historic structure and the newly built elements. The Pressworks demonstrates how thoughtful design, craftsmanship, and technical innovation in brickwork can come together to create a sustainable and timeless contribution to Birmingham’s architectural landscape.Â
Situated in the vibrant Union Street Conservation Area in Southwark, London, The Scoop stands as a testament to contemporary architecture that is deeply rooted in its context. Surrounded by a rich cultural landscape, including the Union Theatre, Jerwood Space and Flat Iron Square, the building engages with both the creative energy of the area and the historic significance of its immediate neighbour: the Grade II listed Church of the Most Precious Blood.
Rather than viewing the church as a constraint, the design embraces it as a catalyst. Its distinctive circular window becomes the generator of the architectural response. The defining gesture of the scheme, a striking semi-circular ‘scoop’ carved into the south façade, frames this window precisely, creating a powerful visual dialogue between old and new. What could have been an impediment instead becomes the focal point of the project: a moment where architecture reveals and celebrates its context.
At its core, the scheme is an exercise in sustainable thinking through adaptive re-use. The design retains the significant southern-facing façade and its corner return, carefully reworking and extending the existing four-storey office building rather than replacing it. This approach not only preserves embodied carbon, but also ensures continuity within the streetscape, anchoring the new intervention in the memory of the place.
This careful balance of retention and addition is expressed through an innovative use of brick. Far from being a passive material, brick is deployed as a primary design tool, articulating form, responding to context, and reinforcing the building’s identity. The new extension, both lateral and vertical, integrates seamlessly with the retained structure, demonstrating how traditional materials can be used in progressive and inventive ways.
Working closely with the forward-thinking and community-minded client, ThomsonHillsBalfour Limited (THB), Corstorphine & Wright has delivered a building that is both environmentally responsible and architecturally distinctive. The project reconfigures and extends the existing structure to create high-quality, Cat A office space, achieving a BREEAM ‘Excellent’ rating and setting a benchmark for sustainable urban development.
The scheme also introduces a roof garden, offering panoramic views across some of London’s most iconic landmarks, while the ground floor carefully aligns with the façade of the adjacent church, originally designed by Frederick Walters in 1892. These moves further reinforce the project’s sensitivity to context, both historic and urban.
The Scoop ultimately demonstrates how constraints can drive creativity. Through adaptive re-use, material innovation, and a deeply contextual design approach, it transforms a complex site into a compelling piece of architecture, one that not only fits within its surroundings, butactively enhances and reveals them.
