Wienerberger’s Sustainability Roadmap features the core areas of Products, Production, Employees and Social Responsibility. Scroll down to see the Roadmap in action.

The Hull UK City of Culture 2017 team joined forces with Wienerberger and the No Limits learning programme to develop The Sixteen Thousand project. Wienerberger’s Broomfleet factory delivered 16 tonnes of Humber clay, quarried locally, to Hull’s nurseries in May 2017.

As a way to represent the 16,000 young children living in Hull and get them involved in the City of Culture celebrations, each child under 5 years old attending the city’s 151 nursery schools and early years centres was given a clay brick to decorate with their own individual design.

Andrew Shimmin is the Headteacher of McMillan Nursery School which was one of first nursery schools to receive their clay. He commented, “Clay is a fantastic material that young children can use. It is malleable, it develops their hand strength and they can use their imaginations.”

Ian Martinson, Wienerberger’s Heritage Craftsman and Team Leader, led clay modelling workshops for the children during which they were encouraged to express themselves using the material, utilising different tools such as twigs, leaves, pine cones, toy cars and their own hands to carve and make marks on the surface of unfired clay bricks. This showed the school children the potential of the material and taught them about the construction of the world around them, including their own homes and favourite places. Each child received a certificate to commemorate their contribution to the project.

Ian Martinson commented, “There have been a few stars here today [at McMillan Nursery School] who have loved working with clay. It’s amazing even at this age how much skill they show when you just let them have the chance, that’s what has been so good to see. It is definitely the best part of my job having the chance to pass on the joy of making things from clay.”



 

Once the 16,000 unfired clay bricks had been carved by the nursery school children, Wienerberger took them back to their Broomfleet factory in East Yorkshire. Here the children’s bricks were dried and then fired in the kilns with great care. After firing, the 16,000 bricks were transported to the C4Di building at Hull Marina where the installation was to be set up for public viewing.

The Sixteen Thousand installation was open to the public from Monday 2nd October to Sunday 5th November 2017. The bricks were displayed stood up on the floor and on specially built display shelves in the glass walled exhibition space, so they could also be seen from the outside. The children who created bricks were able to come with their families to enjoy the exhibition, with the busiest day welcoming over 600 visitors.

Drop-in creative clay workshops were also held every weekend and throughout the school half term holidays where visitors could get to grips with clay themselves.

After the temporary exhibition closed, the 16,000 bricks needed to be repurposed. Children were able to collect their brick as a memento and the remainder were divided amongst the 151 nursery schools that participated in the project. Due to the great public reception of the project, a selection of bricks were also be incorporated into the redevelopment of Hull’s Fruit Market.

Ian Read, Head of Learning and Participation at Hull UK City of Culture 2017, commented: “We are delighted that Wienerberger has been part of this project, helping us facilitate a fantastic opportunity to inspire the youngest people in the city. It has allowed the children’s imaginations to run wild, be involved in a piece of culture for Hull and hopefully has inspired a lifetime’s love of arts.”.

The BBC also covered Ian’s clay modelling workshop at McMillan Nursery School, you can watch the video here.

The partnership began when staff at Broomfleet visited students at Newport Primary School to describe how roof tiles were made and to explain the importance of saving energy in the manufacturing process. Students were then invited to help encourage staff to save energy at the Broomfleet by creating colourful posters. The students produced fantastic eye-catching posters with slogans such as ‘Save Energy, Save the Planet’ which are now on display around the factory.

As a thank you Ian Martinson, Broomfleet’s talented in-house sculptor, ran a special clay model-making workshop for the students and then carefully fired the models in specialist kilns back at the factory. This project, which has fostered a strong connection between Broomfleet and Newport Primary School, culminated in a visit to the factory itself where students saw first-hand how roof tiles are made and even produced their own handmade clay tiles.

Debby O'Connell, Headteacher at Newport Primary School commented “The students have all learnt a great deal not only about the company and industry but also the processes involved in clay and what it can be used for. Many of the children have said that it is the best and most enjoyable lesson they have had. The skills they have learnt have been tremendous.”

Rob Jennings, Production Engineer and Energy Champion at Broomfleet said “Wienerberger is a major employer in the town and many students have relatives working at our factory. It’s been extremely rewarding to involve them in our energy saving campaign and inspire the next generation to join the industry.”

The shale extracted from Mouselow quarry, near Glossop, is a key ingredient for brickmaking at Wienerberger’s Denton factory. Between the shale layers is a band of sandstone which, although unsuitable for use in brick manufacturing, is ideal for stone work projects. The sandstone is used in a variety of applications in the construction industry, from high-quality stone paving to engineering works.

In order to maximise the productivity of the quarry, Wienerberger has contracted Booth Ventures to extract the sandstone and in turn expose the shale that our Denton factory requires. 

Booth’s specialist crushing and grading equipment maximises the use of the sandstone, generating a wide range of aggregates from sand fill, pipe bedding, Type 1, 6F2, and rip-rap to block stone. The block stone has been used in prestigious projects such as Dickens Yard in Ealing, London and the Corn Exchange, Manchester.

Removing the sandstone in this manner also has the additional benefit of making it quicker and easier to achieve the final restoration design at the end of life stage. Once the quarry reaches the end of its active lifespan, it will be restored to natural habitat and planted with native flora to promote biodiversity in and around the site.