Projects That Used Pine Hall Brick Pavers Win National Award

Skiff House, built in 1850 on the banks of the Ohio River in Covington, Kentucky got an expansive modern patio and walkways. Urby Harrison, a much newer urban apartment community in Harrison, New Jersey, got sidewalks and plazas. Both hardscape projects used Pine Hall Brick pavers and took first place in their respective categories on January 26 at the Hardscape North America (HNA) awards.

A third Pine Hall Brick paver project won the award for honorable mention in a commercial application for Lemon Avenue, a uniquely ornate streetscape in Sarasota, Florida.

This year, the ceremony was held during the Interlocking Concrete Pavement Institute’s virtual HNA education event, HNA To Go, which substituted for the regularly scheduled HNA trade show this year because of the pandemic.

The 2020 award winners are scheduled to be on display at the 2021 Hardscape North America event, scheduled for October 20-22 at the KY Expo Center in Louisville, KY.

Like the live event in past years, the ceremony recognized leading residential and commercial hardscape achievements, including walkways, patios, pool decks, outdoor living kitchens and living spaces, and driveways as well as commercial plazas and streets.

For 2020, a record 169 projects competed among 18 hardscape categories.

"Despite the unprecedented challenges we all faced in 2020, HNA Award honorees remained dedicated to delivering excellence,“ said Dr. Marshall Brown, Chair, ICPI. “The impressive projects recognized reflect great creativity, attention to detail, and collaboration between designers, manufacturers, and installers. We're proud to honor their exceptional accomplishment."

Doug Rose, paver sales manager of Pine Hall Brick Company said his company is honored to be chosen for the awards

“But the real winners are those who use and enjoy the patios, the plazas and the walkways made out of our products, because of the aesthetics, the durability and the ease of maintenance that genuine clay pavers offer,” said Rose.

Skiff House, a private residence in Covington, KY, won the award for Lichtenberg Landscaping Inc, designer Steve Lichtenberg and manufacturer Pine Hall Brick Company.

Located in the Licking Riverside Historic District, the Skiff House has presided over a prime location overlooking the Ohio river and just beyond, the skyline of downtown Cincinnati, since 1850.

Divided into four apartments sometime after it was built, the two-story private red brick home was more recently converted back into a single-family dwelling. A carriage house was added behind the main house, creating space for a courtyard.

Lichtenberg specified Pine Hall Brick’s Rumbled Full Range and Rumbled Cocoa pavers to match as closely as possible the face brick that was used to build the house 170 years ago. The pavers were used for an elaborate courtyard and a smaller patio out front, as well.

Urby Harrison is a major landscaping project at an apartment complex at the center of the renewal of Harrison, New Jersey. It won the first-place award for contractor Twin Resources, designer Tom Bauer and manufacturer Pine Hall Brick Company.  (Urby Harrison also won a Gold Award for Paving and Landscaping in the 2019 Brick Industry Association Brick in Architecture Awards).

The design and installation are a celebration of the town of Harrison, a once-thriving industrial center that once fell on hard times and is now being reborn as a bedroom community for Manhattan.

Urby Harrison’s landscape design recalls that history with Old Town and Rumbled Full Range clay pavers, which capture the look of reclaimed brick, in sidewalks, pathways and courtyards.

Urby Harrison is a throwback to Harrison’s glory days. During World War II, more than 90,000 people worked within a 1.3 square mile patch of industry, walking from a train platform to a red-brick factory. Later, during the 1960s and 1970s, industries shut down and the businesses and the people moved out.

Today, Harrison is harking back to its past with billions in new investment, because investors have come to recognize that it still has what it has always had: its location. As it turns out, it’s about a 20-minute train commute to Manhattan.

Urby Harrison residents find open spaces, outdoor cooking and dining spaces, table and lawn games, a firepit lounge, and a pool terrace. There is also a café with an outdoor terrace, a dog park, and a spacious lawn for leisurely play or picnicking.

The third contest winner is Lemon Avenue, an honorable mention in the commercial category. Lemon Avenue won for contractor Preferred Concrete and Pavers, designer Phil Smith of DWJA Landscape Architects and manufacturer Pine Hall Brick Company.

In Lemon Avenue, the designer used Pine Hall Brick Company pavers in Buff, Full Range, Dark Accent and Rose to make three different intersection medallions – a lemon, a pineapple and a compass - in a streetscape. The design intent for the Lemon Avenue project was to improve a commercial and entertainment district – and it was seen as a success.