The Brick Award 24 winners

The five winning projects chosen out of 743 entries from 54 countries demonstrate the potential of brick architecture for sustainable and innovative construction.

The 11th international biennial Brick Award, set up in 2004 by Wienerberger to promote innovation and excellence in brick architecture, was held in Vienna on 7 June 2024. Attracting a total of 743 entries from 54 countries, this year’s award once again showcased the relevance and innovative potential of brick architecture around the world.

From the 50 pre-selected submissions, the jury chose winning projects in five categories: “Feeling at home”, “Living together”, “Working together”, “Sharing public spaces” and “Building outside the box”, as well as an overall grand prize winner, based on criteria including aesthetics, sustainability and innovation.

“The winners of the Brick Award 2024 have demonstrated new ways of utilising material and structure,” says Heimo Scheuch, CEO of Wienerberger. “From saving resources to building into existing environments, these creative minds found solutions by tapping into the still vast potential of brick. We are proud to honour and support these pioneers.”

• The grand prize went to the British studio Níall McLaughlin Architects and their project “International Rugby Experience”, an exhibition and events centre in Limerick dedicated to the sport of rugby, in the Brick Award category “Sharing public spaces”. Its design takes inspiration from Limerick’s famous churches while still upholding a modern aesthetic, allowing the building to fit within the environment while at the same time enhancing it aesthetically.
   
• The “Feeling at home” category was won by Paraguayan studio Equipo de Arquitectura, whose “Intermediate House” uses compressed soil blocks, allowing for low-emission temperature control.
   
• The prize for “Living together”, the category for multi-party housing, went to the Argentinian team of Estudio Arqtipo for achieving a combination of ten living units on a narrow corner lot while giving every unit a private outdoor space.
   
• The two collaborating Irish studios Grafton Architects and O’Mahony Pike Architects won the “Working together” category for their new office headquarters for the Electricity Supply Board of Ireland, which succeeded in combining modern building standards with Dublin’s historic aesthetic.
   
• And the prize for “Building outside the box” went to a joint project between the studios Hanghar from Spain and Palma from Mexico. For an architecture and design festival, they built a temporary artistic brick construction titled “Types of Spaces” in a narrow passageway in the Spanish town of Logroño which leads visitors through several architectural styles.

As in previous years, Wienerberger has published a book entitled “BRICK 24”, which features the 50 shortlisted projects, including the winners. Five essays by international authors complete this overview of contemporary brick architecture.