The Midlands Air Ambulance

Products used: Cooksbridge Yellow bricks

Project location: Shropshire

Architects: Inspire Architects

Brickwork Contractor: Morris Property

The Midlands Air Ambulance Charity’s new headquarters, located in Shropshire, completed its construction in 2023 following a four year project.

Carried out by Inspire Architects and constructed by Morris Property, the building was designed to enhance lifesaving services and house the charity’s head office function, airbase, clinical operations and state-of-the-art clinical training facilities essential to delivering advanced training programmes.

The 8,100 sq ft facility is a vital development for the whole region, and was commissioned due to challenges faced by the charity’s original building, which included UK population growth, increased complexity of patient needs and insufficient training facilities.

The charity carried out fundraising campaigns in order to generate funding for specific areas of the facility, with support from Ibstock.

Among the products specified for the building’s construction were 90,000 of Ibstock’s Cooksbridge Yellow bricks, a third of which were donated by Ibstock. Thanks to the warm and inviting aesthetic yellow bricks can lend, Ibstock’s Cooksbridge Yellow bricks were the ideal fit for the charity headquarters in order to create a safe, welcoming and positive impression on patients, visitors and staff.

Ibstock’s Nexus, an innovative brick-faced support system designed for ease of installation and the ultimate level of fire safety, was also used within the facilities construction. In a building such as the Midlands Air Ambulance Charity HQ, where safety is paramount, this product was ideal for use alongside Ibstock’s Cooksbridge Yellow bricks.

As part of the charity’s commitment to sustainability, the facility’s building materials were carefully considered throughout its design and construction. Here, Ibstock’s Cooksbridge Yellow bricks provided the ideal solution thanks to their construction of clay; a material which emits less CO2 per ton compared to other materials.

Additionally, with the excellent durability yellow bricks exhibit, they are able to withstand weathering and erosion over time. This, in turn, results in minimising maintenance and upkeep, thus allowing the charity to allocate more funding and resources towards providing critical patient care.