2023 Brick in Architecture Awards: Standout Brick Designs Reviewed

The 2023 Brick in Architecture Awards, the 35th edition of the annual competition run by the Brick Industry Association in the United States, celebrated buildings that use clay brick in creative, durable and sustainable ways. Winners ranged from a downtown hotel and a university music centre to a primary school, a public square and private homes. For Pakistan, a country with one of the oldest brick-building traditions in the world, these projects are a useful reminder of what brick can still do in contemporary architecture. This article reviews the award categories, the Best in Class winners, the design techniques they share, and the lessons for builders and homeowners in Pakistan.

Why Brick Still Matters

Brick is one of the oldest manufactured building materials, yet it remains relevant for good reasons. Fired clay brick is durable, fire-resistant and low-maintenance. It provides thermal mass, which helps buildings stay cooler during hot days and warmer at night. It ages well, often looking better after decades of weathering. It can also be laid in an almost unlimited variety of patterns, textures and colours, which gives architects a rich vocabulary from a single material.

The Brick in Architecture Awards are designed to highlight these qualities in current projects, encouraging designers to think beyond brick as a plain cladding and to use it expressively.

Best in Class Winners in 2023

The following projects received Best in Class recognition in their categories.

Commercial: Ace Hotel Toronto

Designed by Shim-Sutcliffe Architects, the Ace Hotel Toronto stands out in a district increasingly dominated by thin glass towers. Its brick facade is laid in panels with vertical coursing, giving it a contemporary look while respecting the strength and permanence of the city’s older industrial buildings. The hotel shows how brick can link a new building to the history of its area without imitating it. Brick was supplied by Endicott Clay Products, with masonry by Limen Group.

Education (Colleges and Universities): TCU Music Center

The music centre at Texas Christian University, designed by Bora Architecture and Interiors, uses brick from Acme Brick Company, laid by Wilks Masonry. Brick’s mass and density also support acoustic separation, which is valuable in music buildings.

Education (K-12): John Webb Elementary School

BRW Architects designed this primary school with brick from Cloud Ceramics, distributed by Blackson Brick and laid by Accurate Masonry of Texas. For schools, brick offers robustness against daily wear and very low maintenance over a long life.

Historic Renovation: Foundry 101

CambridgeSeven’s renovation of Foundry 101 used brick from The Stiles and Hart Brick Company, with masonry by Fernandes Masonry. Historic renovation projects show how matching and repairing old brickwork can give industrial buildings a new life.

International: TIC Art Center

Designed by DOMANI Architectural Concepts in China, with brick from LOPO China, the TIC Art Center won the International category, demonstrating that the competition recognises brick design beyond North America.

Paving and Landscaping: West End Square

Field Operations designed West End Square using pavers from Whitacre-Greer, distributed by Blackson Brick and installed by Paver Pro. Brick paving gives public spaces warmth, texture and a surface that can be lifted and relaid when services need repair.

Residential Multifamily: 1 Boerum Place

SLCE Architects designed this apartment building with brick from Taylor Clay Products, laid by HDK Construction. In dense neighbourhoods, brick helps new apartment blocks fit in with existing streets.

Residential Single Family: Canvas House

PARTISANS designed Canvas House, again using Taylor Clay Products brick. The project shows that brick can be modern, sculptural and refined at the scale of a single home.

Design Techniques the Winners Share

Brick Compared with Other Facade Materials

Brick, Sustainability and Durability

Brick’s environmental profile is mixed, and an honest assessment helps owners choose well. Firing clay uses a lot of energy, so brick has significant embodied energy. On the other hand, brick buildings last a very long time, need little maintenance and can be reclaimed and reused. Their thermal mass also reduces cooling and heating demand in many climates.

The way bricks are made matters. Modern kilns can be much cleaner and more efficient than older types. In South Asia, brick kilns have been linked to air pollution, and there has been a push to convert traditional kilns to cleaner technologies such as zig-zag firing. Specifying bricks from better-run kilns, using them efficiently and designing buildings to last are practical ways to reduce brick’s footprint.

How to Specify Good Brickwork

The quality seen in award-winning projects comes from clear specification as much as from design. Owners and architects can ask for the following on any project where brick will be exposed:

• Sample panels. Build a small sample wall on site to agree colour, bond, joint width and pointing before the main work starts.
• Consistent bricks. Check size tolerance, straight edges, uniform firing and low water absorption, and take bricks from one batch where possible to avoid colour patches.
• Mortar and joints. Specify the mortar mix, joint thickness and pointing profile, and keep joints even and fully filled.
• Protection. Cover new brickwork from rain and direct sun while it cures, and clean off mortar smears promptly.
• Details. Plan sills, lintels, copings and drip edges so rainwater does not stain the facade.

These steps add little cost but make a visible difference to how a brick building looks for decades.

Lessons for Pakistan

Pakistan’s brick heritage runs from the ancient cities of the Indus Valley to the Mughal and colonial buildings of Lahore and Multan. Fair-faced brick, decorative jaali screens and carved brickwork are all part of this tradition. Yet many new buildings hide brick behind plaster and paint. The award winners suggest a different path.

Unreinforced brick masonry performs poorly in earthquakes, so brick should be used within a properly engineered structural system. Facade brickwork also needs ties, movement joints and good detailing at windows and parapets. Building plans in Lahore must be approved by the relevant authority, such as the LDA.

ACCO uses brick in many of its homes and commercial buildings. See our house construction services in Lahore and architectural design services, and read the house construction cost guide for Lahore to understand how materials affect an itemised BOQ.

Frequently Asked Questions

Conclusion

The 2023 Brick in Architecture Awards show that brick remains one of the most versatile materials in architecture. From a Toronto hotel to a Texas school and a family home, the winners use pattern, colour and craftsmanship to create buildings that are durable and full of character. Pakistan, with its own deep brick tradition, can draw on the same ideas, combining skilled brickwork with modern structural safety.