Brunel Award facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Brunel Award |
|
|---|---|
| Presented by | The Watford Group |
| First awarded | 1985 |
| Last awarded | 2014 |
The Brunel Awards are special prizes given to railway companies. They celebrate the best designs in things like train stations, train looks (called rolling stock), railway art, and how railways fit into the environment. These awards are named after Isambard Kingdom Brunel. He was a famous engineer who started the Great Western Railway and designed the huge ship SS Great Eastern.
History of the Brunel Awards
The Brunel Awards first started in 1985. This was during the 150th birthday celebrations of the Great Western Railway. Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom herself gave out the very first awards. The ceremony took place in Bristol, England.
The awards have been held in different cities around the world over the years. They often celebrate important railway milestones.
| Awards | Year | Place | Organiser | Occasion |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 1985 |  Bristol |
British Rail (BR) | 150th anniversary of the Great Western Railway. |
| 2nd | 1987 |  Vienna |
Österreichische Bundesbahnen (ÖBB) | 150 years of rail transport in Austria. |
| 3rd | 1989 |  Amsterdam |
Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS) | 150 years of rail transport in the Netherlands. |
| 4th | 1992 |  Madrid |
RENFE | 50th anniversary of RENFE, opening of the LGV Madrid-Seville, Expo 92 and Summer Olympic Games, 1992. |
| 5th | 1994 |  Washington DC |
FoRTE | Foundation for Railway and Transportation Excellence. |
| 6th | 1996 |  Copenhagen |
Danske Statsbaner (DSB) | |
| 7th | 1998 | Madrid |
RENFE | 150 years of rail transport in Spain. |
| 8th | 2001 |  Paris |
SNCF | Entry into service of the LGV Méditerranée. |
| 9th | 2005 | Copenhagen |
Danske Statsbaner (DSB) | |
| 10th | 2008 | Vienna |
Österreichische Bundesbahnen (ÖBB) | |
| 11th | 2011 | Washington DC |
Center for Industrial Design in Transportation, Inc. | |
| 12th | 2014 | Amsterdam |
Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS), ProRail | 125th anniversary of Amsterdam Central Station and 175 years of rail transport in the Netherlands. |
Award Categories
Since the 2011 awards, there have been five main categories for the prizes. These categories help to recognize different parts of railway design and operation.
- Category 1: Railway stations – for great design of station buildings and areas.
- Category 2: Technical infrastructure – for the design of things like tracks, bridges, and tunnels.
- Category 3: Freight and railway support buildings – for buildings that help with moving goods or maintaining the railway.
- Category 4: Industrial design, corporate branding, graphics, furnishing – for the look of railway companies, signs, and inside train designs.
- Category 5: Rolling stock – for the design of trains themselves, like locomotives and passenger cars.
See also
- List of architecture prizes
