Business & Professional
Brick Works Manchester 2026
Brick Works are a series of relaxed, highly informative evenings, which offer practitioners and brick enthusiasts the opportunity to explore examples of contemporary brick architecture, to network with peers, and add clay brick to your calendar of continuing professional development (CPD).
What's Included?
Talk 1 - The Junction, CJCT
Join Ian Emmerson, Director at CJCT, as he presents 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 Emmerson will present the project at our event, offering insight into how this design-led approach has helped reshape and extend Leeds’ urban fabric.
Talk 2 - Masonry Façade Solutions with ACS Stainless Steel Fixings
Paul Ruding, Strategic Specification Director at ACS, will share a façade solution focused case study from a recent North West project, highlighting the technical challenges faced and how they were resolved through early collaboration and specialist expertise.
Talk 3 - Tileyard North: An award winning major regeneration scheme, Hawkins\Brown
Join Nicholas Birchall for an 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.
Nicholas will touch on the challenges of working within a highly constrained Grade II listed setting, exploring how heritage, adaptability and sustainability informed the project’s approach. The session offers insight into the design thinking behind bringing new life to old structures, and how careful intervention can unlock the future of complex historic sites.
Talk 4 - Island: Award-Winning Net Zero Carbon Brick Architecture, Cartwright Pickard
Join Ross Ogilvie, Director at Cartwright Pickard, as he presents 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 will share 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.
*The BDA reserves the right to refuse or cancel any ticket purchase at their discretion
