The Public, West Bromwich

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The Public Building

The Public, viewed from the north

View from the north west

View from the north east

The Public (rendered with StudlyCaps as THEpUBLIC on its logo) is a community arts organisation based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England, and also a large modern building constructed in West Bromwich and intended to accommodate the group.

[edit] Arts organisation

The Public was founded in 1974 as Jubilee Arts by Sylvia King, and works with various community art groups on creative projects.

[edit] Building

Construction commenced in 2004 on a modern building designed to house The Public, which is known by the same name. Built on the site of a former bus station [1], the building is located in the town centre of West Bromwich, between the ring road and the Queens Square shopping centre. Originally known as c/Plex, the scheme was intended to house almost 100,000 square feet of galleries, studios and exhibition spaces, along with a restaurant and cafe.

Budgeted at approximately £32million, including one of the largest awards for a capital project by Arts Council England, the development was designed by the architect Will Alsop, and cost approximately £52million. Comprising a massive cuboid building constructed in dark grey and silver metal cladding with irregularly-shaped windows edged in magenta, its appearance has drawn comparisons with a fish tank [2].

The development has been beset by financial difficulties, going into administration even before the expected opening date of July 2006 [3].