The Brunel Awards are given to railway companies, to encourage outstanding visual design in railway architecture, graphics, industrial design and art, technical infrastructure and environmental integration, and rolling stock. The name is assigned to them in honour of Isambard Kingdom Brunel, founder of the Great Western Railway, and designer of the giant ship .
History The Brunel Awards were first awarded in 1985, during the celebrations marking the 150th anniversary of the Great Western Railway.
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom presented the inaugural awards, at a ceremony in Bristol, England.
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. 13th 2025 London Network Rail, International Union of Railways (UIC) Railway 200: 200th anniversary of the Stockton and Darlington Railway and modern railways.
Categories Beginning with the 2011 awards ceremony, there have been five categories of award; the third category is new.
Category 1: rail stations Category 2: technical infrastructure Category 3: freight and railroad support buildings Category 4: industrial design, corporate branding, graphics, furnishing Category 5: rolling stock
See also
List of architecture prizes
References
External links
The Watford Group website, The ninth Brunel Awards (2005) on the website of the organiser, the DSB. The tenth Brunel Awards (2008) on the website of the organiser the ÖBB.