Featured Presentations
The Junction: Carey Jones Champan Tolcher
Ian Emmerson, (Director, CJCT), opened the evening with a talk on The Junction, an early Build-to-Rent scheme in Leeds, delivering 665 homes alongside new commercial and retail uses. The project is shaped around the Grade II listed Monk Bridge viaduct, which has been reimagined as a landscaped elevated route forming the main access through the site and connecting with Wellington Place. This approach allowed servicing and parking to be concealed below, while creating a distinctive “high-line” that supports five buildings stepping in height toward the city centre, each with its own character and mix of shared amenities.
By embracing the viaduct as a defining feature rather than a constraint, The Junction has created a unique, viable development that respects local heritage while contributing significant new housing to the city centre. Ian offered insight into how this design-led approach has helped reshape and extend Leeds’ urban fabric.
Victoria Riverside: ACS Stainless Fixings Ltd
Paul Ruding, (Strategic Specification Director at ACS), explored the new Victoria Riverside project in Manchester and how ACS have acted as a Masonry Façade Solutions Partner to ensure the complex brickwork can be both supported and restrained. Set in between the greenery of the Irk River Valley and the hustle and bustle of the city centre, this landmark development is home to over 600 new apartments, townhouses and maisonettes in Manchester’s characterful Red Bank neighbourhood. The project combines a brickwork podium with a glazed tower, with complex brickwork detailing used to high effect.
Paul discussed how considerations had to be made around congestion within the cavity space as well as limited availability for fixings. He also explored how innovative brick cutting techniques were utilised to achieve 1-metre-deep brick soffits.
Tileyard North: Hawkins\Brown
Nicholas Birchall (Associate, Hawkins\Brown) and Rosa Kenny (Architect, Hawkins\Brown) provided an exclusive inside look at Tileyard North, a major regeneration project transforming the historic Rutland Mills into one of the UK’s most significant creative campuses outside London.Set alongside The Hepworth Wakefield, this talk introduces the ambition behind reopening a long-derelict industrial site and reimagining it as a vibrant, contemporary cultural destination. The success of Tileyard North speaks for itself, winning the refurbishment award at the 2025 Brick Awards.
They delved into the challenges of working within a highly constrained Grade II listed setting, exploring how heritage, adaptability and sustainability informed the project’s approach. Their session offered insight into the design thinking behind bringing new life to old structures, and how careful intervention can unlock the future of complex historic sites.
Island: Cartwright Pickard
Ross Ogilvie, (Director, Cartwright Pickard), presented Island, the highly acclaimed Commercial category winner at the 2025 Brick Awards.
Located in the heart of Manchester, Island is a pioneering, next-generation workspace designed for Net Zero Carbon and certified NABERS 5*. Ross shared how the team masterfully integrated over 270,000 Natural Orange handmade bricks using off-site manufactured precast panels.
This innovative approach allowed for the creation of intricate, high-quality brick detailing like curved corners and sawtooth facades that respects the historic conservation area while setting a new, sustainable benchmark for contemporary commercial architecture.
