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Art Deco buildings

Vivienne14

Vivienne14

Kentish Brummie Moderator
Staff member
Art Deco design started in France after World War I and spread internationally from the 1920s through the 1930s. Wikipedia tells us it combines "traditional craft motifs with Machine Age imagery and materials". With it's use of rich colours and ornamentation, we get a sense of luxury and glamour. But the style also suggests technological progress through the use of bold geometric shapes. Strangely, there seem to be relatively few Deco buildings around Birmingham compared with the volume of Victorian examples. I'd have expected architects of the 1920s/30s to have been eager to incorporate the style into their factory, office, shop and public building plans to demonstrate the City's modern ideas. So let's see what we can uncover. Maybe less new buildings were commissioned during that time, or maybe we just need to work harder to detect the Deco influence in the buildings that were built. Two obvious Deco designs in image 1 and. 2 below are the Gem Building on Hockley Hill and The Times Furniture building (now Waterstones) on High Street.

Viv.
 

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Vivienne,


There was certainly no shortage of Art Deco buildings constructed in Birmingham. Whats more unusually for Birmingham quite a few are still standing though they may not all be serving the purpose they were built for or even still look the same as when they were first built.


Cinemas seem to have had a more than usual amount of buildings in the Art Deco style, it was perhaps something to do with the rime they were built. Among these three we have The Paramount New Street, then it became the Odeon and now it's closed. Next the Electric Cinema on Station Street which has gone through many renovations and name changed and is now called The Electric once again. Next is the Odeon Kingstanding which I believe is a bingo hall now. Then we have Warwick house on New Street of which the original building was Birminghams first department store this replacement building is now a hotel. Finally we have Kent Street Baths Birmingham's first public baths that originally opened in 1851 and later extensively altered and rebuilt to reopen in 1933, sadly now demolished and gone.
 

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The other Odeon within the Birmingham boundary was the Odeon, Warley.

BB87_02731.jpg


This is -or was-where the Wolverhampton New Road met the Hagley Road, and was demolished 1973-ish.

The only remaining Odeons of the same style still existing in the west of the region apart from Kingstanding are in Wolverhampton (now an Asian banqueting centre), Bilston (a similar usage), and Dudley (now a Jehovah's Witness centre). The disused Gaumont Wednesbury (of a similar pattern) very unexpectedly burned down a year or so ago...
 
Thanks Phil and Richie. The Odeon cinema's are great examples of the period - as the many books on the subject suggest, they hint at the ocean liner image. I like the sweeping curves of the buildings and thankfully some have survived with little external alteration. It's almost like the exterior promises a luxurious experience inside. Phil's other building photos seem much more austere and functional in design with very little ornamentation.


Pub designs got the treatment too. The Baldwin and Maggies pubs in Hall Green were designed by Birmingham born Ewin Francis Reynolds. He was influenced by ocean liner design. Viv.
 

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There may be a picture on the forum of John Wrights building on Thimblemill Lane in Aston it definitely was art deco and stood out like a sore thumb in that part of Aston sad that it burnt down...Brenda
 
brenda barr said:
There may be a picture on the forum of John Wrights building on Thimblemill Lane in Aston it definitely was art deco and stood out like a sore thumb in that part of Aston sad that it burnt down...Brenda
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There are at least a couple of Thimblemill lane pics on the forum and here is one of them with part of a large building on the right.
ThimbleMillL1.jpg
 
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Thanks Brenda and Phil. Be good to find a fuller picture of Wrights but I've searched and can't find one. Was the business called Wrights or did it go by another name? And do you know if it was actually on Thimlemill Lane? Viv.
 
Viv, John Wrights made all kinds of Gas stove s and fires etc...it was also known as Radiation Ltd...l worked there from when l left school until l came to Texas...l have some happy memories to look back on...Brenda
 
Thanks for the link Ell - nice to see lots of these designs are still around

Hi Brenda. Thanks for the info. I've still not found a fuller image of post #8. Maybe one will turn up.

And we still have Elmdon. (Birmingham) Airport. It's one place you'd expect to find Deco influences given the development of flight during this period. How nice to see the surviving buildings despite more modern, later development. Viv.image.jpgimage.jpg
 
Side view of the Elmdon Building as seen from the X1 bus (formerly the 900) heading towards Birmingham Airport (and on to Birmingham International and later Coventry).

 
The Elmdon Building seen in an archived video from 1998 posted by AP on Youtube.

This was when Hilary Clinton (as first lady) arrived at the then Birmingham International Airport (for the G8). The date was 15th May 1998.
elmdon b 1998.jpg
 
Without creating a new thread, noticed a coat of arms on The Westbourne Centre near Westbourne Road in Edgbaston. At 53 Church Road. Built 1935. Pevsner says it's by Hobbiss.





 
Centre Court on the Stratford Road in Hall Green after dark. Took this after getting off the bus. Has blue lights on during the evening. Art Deco building.

 
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This was the Beacon Insurance offices at one time. (Late 50s early 60s at a guess). I am sure I have posted somewhere else about it - it stood out for me as above the door was a lamp which flickered like a beacon.
 
It doesn't seem to be on a map from 1937 but is listed in the 1940 Kelly's. That surprises me so will try a bit more research.
1547156669404.png
 
Haven't found an answer yet but Petersfield Court the Art Deco flats nearby were built in 1937 so it seems likely that the building of what is now Centre Court was at a similar time.
 
The building first appears in Kellys in the 1939 edition, which would correspond to 1938
 
My wife worked there in the late 60s and early 70s when it was part of the Sun Alliance and London Insurance group. They later moved to premises in Bennetts Hill in the city centre
pjmburns said:
This was the Beacon Insurance offices at one time. (Late 50s early 60s at a guess). I am sure I have posted somewhere else about it - it stood out for me as above the door was a lamp which flickered like a beacon.
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Walked up Petersfield Road, Hall Green and saw Petersbourne Court. Pevsner did not go up this road, so no details in that book!





 
Petersfield Court on Stratford Road is under wraps during a refurbishment - interesting to see what they have done when they finish. A quick glance looks as if the curved windows may be more angular.
 
I thought Petersbourne Court was Petersfield Court until I saw it's name! Do you know what year Petersbourne Court was built?
 
oldMohawk said:
There are at least a couple of Thimblemill lane pics on the forum and here is one of them with part of a large building on the right.
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was johny wrights the radiation- gas cooker place. they had a foundry in holburn hill.. there was huge. white pillers on that one in thimble mill lane. just past that garage. you want get one of these in currys1549214695924.png
 
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