Rick Mather Architects’ Sloane Robinson Building at Keble College, Oxford, took the Building of the Year accolade at the 2003 BDA Brick Awards.
It also won the Best Public Building award.

The judges were impressed by the sculptural feel of the building and its creative use of stack-bonded soldier courses as an ordering principle. Slim, handmade,

Roman-style bricks give the building a contemporary aesthetic that makes a striking response to the polychromatic brick of the neighbouring Butterfield building.

This is the second building Mather has designed for Keble College, and it uses similar language to his 1995 Arco building.

The awards were presented at a gala ceremony held at Le Meridien Grosvenor House in London on 4 November. The complete list of award winners is as follows:

  • Best Single House: Tan-y-Coed House, Wrexham. Architect: Cosmo Lloyd.

  • Best Private Housing Development: Fulham Island, Fulham, London. The architect was CZWG Architects.

  • Best Public Housing Development: Silitoe Court, Raleigh Park, Nottingham. Architect: Maber Associates.

  • Volume Housebuilding Award: David McLean Homes.

  • Best Commercial Building: Manser Antiques, Shrewsbury. Architect: Baart Harries Newall.

  • Best Public Building: Sloane Robinson Building, Keble College, Oxford. Architect: Rick Mather Architects.

  • Best Refurbishment Project: New Schools, Eton College, Eton. Architect:Corrigan + Soundy + Kilaiditi.

  • Best Landscape Project: The Living Room, Dunbar Drive, Bolton. Artist: Isabella Lockett.

  • Best Export Award: St Catherine’s Foyer & Sports Centre, Dublin. Architect: Brady & Mallalieu.

  • Best Structural Use of Brick: Thornden Hall, Eastleigh, Hants. Architect: Hampshire County Council. Structural engineer: Michael Dudfield Associates.

  • prefabrication Award: The Grove, Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire. Architect: Fitzroy Robinson.

  • Specialist Brickwork Contractor of the Year: Marlborough Brickwork, Leeds.

  • Best Craftsmanship Award: 20-32 Baker Street, London W1. Architects: Norman & Dawbarn/Erith & Terry

  • Sustainability Award: Denville Hall Phase 2, Northwood, Middx. Architect: Acanthus Lawrence & Wrightson

  • Special Award for Decorative Brickwork: Greenwich Millennium Village, London. Executive architect: EPR Architects

  • BDA Building of the Year 2003: Sloane Robinson Building, Oxford. Architect: Rick Mather Architects.

The BDA acknowledges the kind sponsorship of Baggeridge Brick, CPI EuroMix, RDL Distribution and Readymix. For details of the 2004 Brick Awards, call 01344-885651.