Architecture of Birmingham
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This article is about the architecture of Birmingham, England.
Although Birmingham has existed as a settlement for over 1000 years, today's city is overwhelmingly a product of the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries, with relatively little surviving from its early history.
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[edit] 11th-17th Century
St. Martin's Church in the centre of the Bullring was Birmingham's original parish church. A church has stood on the site since the 11th century. It was extensively re-built in the 1870s, retaining some original walls and foundations. Inside the church is an effigy of Sir William de Bermingham - a medieval lord of the manor, dating from 1325. This is one of the few surviving links to Birmingham's medieval past.
Some of the older surviving black and white timber buildings include The Old Crown public house in Digbeth, the 'Stone' public house in Northfield and Stratford House in Sparkbrook.
Other buildings from this period include Bournbrook Hall (Bournville), Selly Manor (a Tudor manor house), Minworth Greaves (a medieval hall), the 15th Century "Saracen's Head" and "Old Grammar School" (both Kings Norton), Handsworth Old Town Hall (1460; an example of early cruck timber frame construction), Blakesley Hall (Yardley, 1500s),
[edit] 18th-19th Century
18th Century buildings include the 1725 St Philip's Cathedral, built as a parish church, is in the heart of the city, with glass by Edward Burne-Jones, Soho House (Handsworth, 1766), and the 29m metre high Perrot's Folly, Ladywood which was built in 1758 by John Perrot and which was an inspiration to J. R. R. Tolkien.
The need to house the many industrial workers who flocked to the city from other areas during the Industrial Revolution led to many streets and terraces of back-to-back houses, some of which were later to become inner-city slums. The railways brought Curzon Street Station.
The Victorian era saw an extensive building programme, with many churches and public buildings such as the Victoria Law Courts (1887), Museum & Art Gallery, the Town Hall and the Council House. Many of the public buildings were built using red brick and terracotta. Commercial building included the now-empty, Grand Hotel on Colmore Row (1875, with additions in 1876, 1891 and 1895). New Street and Corporation Street in the city centre have retained many of their fine Victorian buildings, providing - above modern ground-floor facades - an insight into how the city once looked.
The city has several Victorian green men (or foliate heads) which consist of unusual human heads, carved of stone, with vegetation growing out of their faces.
Notable Arts and Crafts buildings include 21 Yateley Road, Edgbaston, designed by the architect Herbert Tudor Buckland as his own home, and listed Grade I (neighbouring buildings are also listed, Grade II) and his Walkers Factory, in Digbeth.
[edit] 1900-1945
The late Victorian era of red brick and terracotta gave way to coloured glazed terracotta - faience: examples being the Trocadero (c 1902), Temple Street, and the Piccadily Arcade (1909) (originally a cinema) on New Street - and glazed brick: Moor Street Station (1909-1914).
The original buildings of the University of Birmingham, including its clock tower and The Barber Institute of Fine Arts (opened 1939), and the large Council House Extension and bridge housing the Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery (1911-1919) are from this period. The Hall of Memory and Baskerville House on Broad Street are from the 1920s and 1930s. The Trinity Road Stand, at Aston Villa's Villa Park ground, completed in 1924, was considered the grandest in the land, complete with stained glass windows, Italian mosaics and sweeping staircase, it was thought architect Archibald Leitch's masterpiece and was described as "the St Pancras of football" by a Sunday Times reporter in 1960. It was demolished in 2000. The Blue Coat School in Harborne dates from 1930, the King Edward VI boys' and girls' schools in Edgbaston from 1840, and the Queen Elizabeth Hospital from 1933-8. A distinctive Art Deco cinema is the Odeon in Kingstanding (1935).
The Bournville Village Trust was set up in 1900 to manage the estate and public buildings growing around Cadburys in Bournville. Much of the planning was done by William Alexander Harvey. In addition, the Birmingham-born architect, Town Planner and Secretary of The Birmingham Civic Society William Haywood did much to raise the profile of the improvement of Birmingham in the inter-war years.
The reformed pubs started just after 1900 - large 'family' pubs intended to replace the workers' and drinking men's pubs of the previous century.
[edit] Post War Architecture
Birmingham's industrial importance in World War II led to some of the heaviest bombing raids during the Blitz. This claimed many lives and many beautiful buildings too, but the destruction that took place in post war Birmingham was also extensive: dozens of fine Victorian buildings like the intricate glass-roofed Birmingham New Street Station, and the old Central Library, were destroyed in the 1950s and 1960s. These planning decisions were to have a profound effect on the image of Birmingham in subsequent decades, with the mix of concrete ring roads, shopping centres and tower blocks often referred to as a 'concrete jungle'.
Tall office blocks were constructed in city centre in the form of basic shapes such as cuboids. For example The McLaren Building and Centre City Tower which were constructed towards the end of the 1960s/ early 1970s. 'Big Top' was completed in the late 1950s and became the city's tallest building and the first shopping centre in Birmingham.
John Madin was a major architect in the city from the 1960s to the 1970s with his most famous buildings being Birmingham Central Library in Chamberlain Square. Built in 1974, it quickly became detested by the public for its Brutalist architecture and was once described as "looking more like a place for burning books, than keeping them" by Prince Charles. Despite this, there have been campaigns launched to get the building listed status in more recent times. Another building by John Madin, received other views from the public. The Post and Mail building was completed in the late 1960s and upon its completion, the tower was hailed as a great achievement. A lesser known building in the city by John Madin, Metropolitan House, shows the variety of architecture he brought to the city. Madin also designed the 200 ft-high Rotunda, a circular tower block at the South end of New Street.
However, as Modernist architecture fell out of favour in the 1990s, proposals for the redevelopment of many of the buildings constructed in Birmingham during the 1960s and 1970s were aired including redevelopment proposals for the Post and Mail Tower (most including the total demolition of the tower). In 2005, demolition work began on the tower and a replacement office block is under construction on site. A building of similar architecture, the Birmingham Chamber of Commerce on the Hagley Road, still remains, however, is under threat from demolition as the Birmingham Chamber of Commerce look for a new building.
The largest high-rise estate in Britain was constructed at Castle Vale with over 30 tower blocks in one small area. This became an unpopular and there were many problems in the area. As a result, one of the largest tower block demolition and renovation programmes anywhere in Europe began on the estate, with the construction of new buildings, squares and green spaces.
Stephenson Tower is a city-centre tower block, located near New Street Station. When New Street Station is renovated, the tower is expected to be demolished. A group of four tower blocks located behind The Rep Theatre on Broad Street are currently undergoing an extensive renovation to improve their insulation and appearance.
[edit] Recent projects
One of the most recent buildings to be constructed and opened within the City Centre itself is Beetham Tower at Holloway Circus which was partially opened in January 2006. When topped out, it was the second tallest building in Birmingham at 122 metres, only being beaten by the BT Tower.
More up-to-date architecture includes the award winning Future Systems' Selfridges building which is an irregularly-shaped structure, covered in thousands of reflective discs (see picture). Brindleyplace and Millennium Point are also examples of recent rejuvenation.
In Eastside, the Learning and Leisure Zone has seen the construction of the Eastside branch of Matthew Boulton College, Millennium Point and the New Technology Institute.
Many large scale projects were proposed as part of the Birmingham Redevelopment Scheme.
[edit] Future projects
Further new projects are planned for the city, including a new Central Library.
A development on Masshouse and the Curzon Street area of Eastside will feature a new city park. Other developments there include the major City Park Gate by MAKE Architects, Curzon Park, Ventureast, Curzon Gate and a possible 176 metre vertical theme park by ROC International called the Pinnacle.
Developers, the Birmingham Alliance, who are responsible for the redevelopment of the Bullring Shopping Centre and Martineau Place have also proposed a new mixed use development on Corporation Street and Priory Queensway, fronting Old Square, called Martineau Galleries to link the Eastside with the city core. The development would involve a major shopping area and a 110 metre tall residential tower with a sloping roof constructed.
Other projects include John Rocha's 'fashion first' Orion Building on Navigation Street, currently under construction. The V Building on Broad Street was unveiled in March 2007 and will be part of the larger Arena Central development.
Proposed designs for the redevelopment of New Street Station were made public in February 2006. They showed a naturally lit foyer and two high rise buildings with the entire development set to cost approximately £500 million. However, many have issued strong objections to the project.
A major project breaking ground in Birmingham, at Snow Hill, will see the construction of three large mixed use blocks on wasteland. As a part of this development, St Chad's Circus is being redeveloped and the roads realigned. Building One, which is completely offices, has received planning consent and construction has commenced. Building Two of an identical design is awaiting a decision. Building 3, a 43 storey block consisting of two towers containing a hotel and residential units is currently under consideration by the council. The developer is Ballymore and architects include Glenn Howells. Completion is due in 2010.
Other smaller development include Broad Street Tower on Broad Street designed by Level7 Architects and The Cube to the rear of The Mailbox designed by Ken Shuttleworth of MAKE Architects.
[edit] Sources
- A History of Birmingham, Chris Upton, 1993, ISBN 0-85033-870-0
[edit] See also
- Listed buildings in Birmingham
- List of tallest buildings and structures in Birmingham
- Birmingham Redevelopment Scheme
