York Handmade Brick Company completes chapter for £9m library scheme

York Handmade Brick Company has completed a contract to provide 30,000 specially-manufactured bricks for the new £9m Central Library and Archives in Halifax.

Calderdale Council and Edinburgh-based LDN Architects selected bricks by York Handmade, based near Easingwold, in a contract worth £44,000.

Each brick was drawn by hand to ensure they were the right style, shape and colour to blend with the adjacent Grade I listed Piece Hall and the town’s other historic buildings.

Dermot Patterson of LDN said: “York Handmade were uniquely able to offer a long format brick which harmonises beautifully with the stone used widely in the town on Halifax both in terms of shape and colouration.

“We had not used York Handmade before but were delighted to be able to specify something made in the county of Yorkshire for a Yorkshire project.

“The company’s bricks have a rich and variable handmade character which avoids the mechanically repetitive appearance of some brick facades. We were delighted by the result, as were is the client, Calderdale Council.”

York Handmade has been making bricks for more than 70 years from local Triassic mudstone clay that has been used in the area for centuries. The company’s bricks have been used in a range of prestigious locations, including The Shard in London and Chetham’s School of Music in Manchester.

David Armitage, chairman of York Handmade, said: “My family has been making bricks in Yorkshire for more than a century, so the new Central Library and Archives in Halifax means a great deal to us. We are very proud to be involved and this contract continues a special tradition.”