Brick company behind London’s Shard building takes control of airfield tower contract

York Handmade Brick Company, which supplied the bricks for London’s Shard building, has played a major role in creating a new airfield control tower in Buckinghamshire.

York Handmade, based at Alne near Easingwold, supplied 100,000 specially-made bricks for the hexagonal control tower at Turweston Flight Centre.

The contract is worth £130,000 for York Handmade, one of the leading independent brickmakers in the UK.

York Handmade was approached by David Owen, owner of Turweston Flight Centre in Brackley, after he had seen York Handmade’s Maxima bricks at the base of the iconic Shard building in London.

David Armitage, chairman of York Handmade, said: “It was a tremendous honour to be asked to provide so many bricks for such a prestigious project. The new control tower at Turweston is an exceptional building, utterly at home in its surroundings.

“Our long thin Maxima bricks, which are becoming increasingly popular, provide a distinctive and sensitive look. It was crucial we got this look right, otherwise the new tower would have looked utterly out of place in its distinctive airfield environment.

“It was especially pleasing that our bricks at the Shard, of which we are very proud, led to this prestigious order. It is often forgotten that the Shard is not just made of glass! The bricks there are a great advertisement for our work, right in the heart of London,” added Armitage.

The new control tower, which also comprises offices, flying school and café, was designed a hexagonal building to reflect the triangle of land lying within the three original Second World War runways at Turweston.

Owen said: “We couldn’t have been happier with the results and the process couldn’t have been easier. The building has been extremely well-received and the level of our business has increased. Thank goodness for well-run family businesses like York Handmade.”