The Brick Industry Association (BIA) has opened entries for the 2020 Brick in Architecture Awards — launching a new overall Craftsmanship Award honoring exceptionally artful installation.

Entries are due by Nov. 30, with 50% less required items for faster submissions. As the nation’s leading architectural design competition featuring fired-clay brick, all submissions must use clay brick as the project’s primary building material.

“There’s no limit to brick’s unmatched design freedom and its integral role in sustainable design,” said BIA President Ray Leonhard.

Entrants must be either an architect or designer employed by an architectural, design-build or landscaping design firm. Judged by peers, winners will be announced in January.

The new Craftsmanship Award recognizes an individual mason or a team of masons who skillfully install brick in an artful/unique way, including uniformity of mortar joint sizes; head joint alignment; installation difficulty (quoins, arches, corbels, et al); overall range of colors (blending the cube of brick), et al.

Per the competition rules, eligible projects include any work of architecture completed since January 1, 2015 in which new clay brick products comprise the predominant exterior building or paving material (over 50 percent) including: face or hollow brick, building brick, thin brick, paving brick, glazed brick, structural glazed facing tile, new clay brick products in special shapes and/or a combination of these.

Entries must be submitted online in one or more of these categories:

• Commercial
• Education – K-12
• Education – Colleges & Universities (Higher Education) *
• Residential – Single Family
• Residential – Multi-Family
• Paving & Landscape Projects
• Historic Renovation**
• International (If project is located outside of the U.S., Canada or a U.S. Territory, it must be entered in this category)

* Includes residence halls & academic/administrative buildings **This does not need to meet the 50% or more new brick requirement but must have 50% or more brick renovated on the project.

Hanley Wood will host the winners insert on their website for 12 months, and all submitted projects will be posted to BIA’s online Photo Gallery.  Questions: Tricia Mauer: tmauer@bia.org.

 

Related: 2019 Brick in Architecture Awards honor dynamic design