Back to Back Awards for Excellence in Christchurch Bricklaying
At Richie’s Brick and Block, our superpower is achieving technical excellence and a superb finish under demanding and challenging conditions. For proof, you just need to look at the national Master Brick and Blocklayers Excellence Awards, where we were recognised in 2025 and then again in 2026 for our work on premium residential multi-unit developments in Christchurch. These awards aren’t easy to win. They’re judged by eagle-eyed fellow brickies who know excellent work when they see it.
Master Brick & Blocklayers Excellence Award 2026 – 50b Murray Place
This complex, award-winning build involved multiple levels, highly visible external corners, and detailed brickwork that demanded absolute precision, both in the management of the job and its execution.
Like any truly satisfying project, there were a few challenges along the way that included a driveway with limited access and storage, a difficult scaffold setup that restricted key working areas, and an intense four-week timeline. A few unexpected detailing challenges also cropped up that required some quick thinking and practical craftsmanship to sort out. But rather than allowing any of these difficulties to hold us up, we adapted and kept going to meet the deadline, and proudly delivered a result without compromise to finish, detail, or execution. We’re especially pleased with this project because it’s a clear demonstration of our resilience, teamwork, and exceptional skill, and that’s why we were recognised with this award.
Jim Matthews Excellence Award 2025 – 44 Winchester Street
In this project, we had the exciting opportunity to work with Roman bricks, which are longer, slimmer, and more difficult to align than standard bricks, demanding a level of technical precision that’s rarely seen today. But we love a challenge!
An extra element of difficulty was the architectural complexity of the multi-level design, which included internal alcoves and visible external corners. And it’s all brick! The fact that the brick was the sole cladding makes this an even prouder achievement for our team because there are no other materials to hide any mistakes or irregularities.
Looking at the finished job, we especially love the cohesive look from the north side created by the impressive mass of brick and extreme attention to detail in the mortar finish. Everyone who sees this project reckons it’s a winner, and clearly the judges did too.
If you want award-winning brick and block laying for your next residential, commercial, or multi-unit development, we’d love to hear from you.
