Handheld trophies celebrating Birmingham businesses

Designed to reflect people-first workplaces and Birmingham’s business culture

CLIENT: Birmingham Business: Best Places to Work Awards 2026

CATEGORY: Awards / Culture

PROJECT TYPE: Trophy design and fabrication

LOCATION: Birmingham, UK

MATERIALS: Grey Valchromat, fluorescent acrylic, engraved plaques

COLLABORATORS: Birmingham City University, School ofJewellery

PHOTOGRAPHER: Dual Works

APPROACH:

We designed and fabricated a series of eight handheld trophies for the Birmingham Best Places to Work 2026 Awards, based on a thoughtful brief from Awards Chair, Nicola Fleet Milne. The awards celebrate organisations that put people first, recognising businesses where culture, trust and everyday leadership are valued as the foundations of long-term success.

Our approach was to create objects that felt grounded, credible and lasting rather than overly corporate or ornamental. Inspired by one of our favourite previous projects, the Festival of Making Welcome Arch, the trophies were designed as miniature architectural forms that interact playfully with light. Layers of fluorescent acrylic create colourful reflections and the impression that the pieces are illuminated from within, subtly reinforcing the idea of “shining a light” on the award winners.

The trophies combine Grey Valchromat with fluorescent acrylic in four distinct colourways representing the awards’ values of integrity, collaboration, resilience and long-term investment in people. The solidity and tactility of the Valchromat balances the vibrancy and energy of the acrylic, resulting in pieces that feel solid, joyful and proudly displayable. We also collaborated with Birmingham City University’s School of Jewellery to produce individually engraved plaques for each award winner.