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Modernist buildings in Birmingham: past and present

Stokkie

Stokkie

master brummie
In the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s many Brutalist buildings were constructed. (Brutalism means simply that they were constructed from reinforced concrete ‘beton brut’ - raw concrete in French.) Some like the Rotunda are loved, some like the Prefabs are rather neglected and some like John Madin's Central Library are demolished. I've noticed a resurgence of interest in modernist buildings as the cityscape of Birmingham changes.

There's a new book:

Birmingham: The Brutiful Years​

by Mary Keating, Jenny Marris and John Bell.

The Modernist Society is the publisher. I don't expect everyone likes this style of architecture, but the buildings certainly photograph well and some of them like Birmingham University's Muirhead tower have been adapted to contemporary times.
 
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Stokkie said:
In the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s many Brutalist buildings were constructed. (Brutalism means simply that they were constructed from reinforced concrete ‘beton brut’ - raw concrete in French.) Some like the Rotunda are loved, some like the Prefabs are rather neglected and some like John Madin's Central Library are demolished. I've noticed a resurgence of interest in modernist buildings as the cityscape of Birmingham changes.

There's a new book:

Birmingham: The Brutiful Years​

by Mary Keating, Jenny Marris and John Bell. (Sold out at present)

The Modernist Society is the publisher. I don't expect everyone likes this style of architecture, but the buildings certainly photograph well and some of them like Birmingham University's Muirhead tower have been adapted to contemporary times.
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There is also The Twentieth Century Society which organised visits and campaigns for the preservation of 20C buildings.
 
The enthusiasts for this architecture got a bit of space for their views in the Guardian recently:
www.theguardian.com

‘If the Ringway goes, I’m leaving’ – the fight to save Birmingham’s brutiful masterpieces

When Clint Eastwood posed by the glorious Ringway in the 1960s, the city boasted superb buildings aplenty. As yet more face the wrecking ball, we meet the people hitting back
www.theguardian.com www.theguardian.com
The author complains that Smallbrook ringway buildings were hidden by a purple lurid billboard . Presumably he would prefer visitors exiting new st station to be confronted by a potentially dangerous decaying mess with small trees growing out of it. He again praises the 1970s library, badly built . ugly and whose bad construction and design resulted in considerable damage to some of its contents on one occasion. He says he will leave Birmingham if the Ringway goes. . I would say good riddance, but unfortunately am not convinced some of the boring glass structures that might replace it are much better
 
I personally like brutalist architecture or anything that makes a bold statement and stands out. I spent a lifetime in the construction industry and still identify myself as a builder. I have always been fascinated with innovative construction techniques and how some of these building push the boundaries.
 
mikejee said:
He says he will leave Birmingham if the Ringway goes. . I would say good riddance, but unfortunately am not convinced some of the boring glass structures that might replace it are much better
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Not quite. It is Mary Keating, one of the authors of the book Oliver Wainright is reviewing who is quoted. Not Wainright himself. But I take any such claims with a pinch of salt!
 
Self-Healing Concrete
Concrete has been long-time to be considered as one of the extensively used material globally. And finally, self-healing concrete is being introduced recently and has been able to advance in a way that it will soon become a viable alternative to the traditional materials.These materials will automatically fix any found fissures and cracks that usually occur over time and it ultimately offers a good long-term solution for the degradation of concrete.

 
Looking at a recent post on Birmingham Post and Mail building, built 1964, demolished 2005, I thought I'd look at other John Madin Buildings. Here's a list: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_John_Madin_buildings

I was surprised to find that I'd worked in Granville House, next to Lee Longlands with its futuristic windows in the 1970s for West Midlands Telephone Area. Granville House is one of Madin's remaining Birmingham buildings. It is now a Travelodge. When it was converted the outside appearance was changed, so it does not preserve the original Madin vision. I think the original complemented Lee Longlands 1932 Building which was clad in Portland Stone rather better.
 
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The Cube 196 Wharfside Street, Birmingham as seen from Gas Street Basin. Designed by Birmingham born Ken Shuttleworth and Make. Final phase of the Mailbox development. Luxury hotel, bars, restaurants, luxury flats and offices. Completed 2010.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cube,_Birmingham
Shuttleworth wrote: 'The cladding for me tries to reflect the heavy industries of Birmingham which I remember as a kid, the metal plate works and the car plants - and the inside is very crystalline, all glass; that to me is like the jewellery side of Birmingham, the lightbulbs and delicate stuff - it tries to reflect the essence of Birmingham in the building itself.'[22]
IMG_2482.jpeg
 
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Stokkie said:
The Cube 196 Wharfside Street, Birmingham as seen from Gas Street Basin. Designed by Birmingham born Ken Shuttleworth and Make. Final phase of the Mailbox development. Luxury hotel, bars, restaurants, luxury flats and offices. Completed 2010.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cube,_Birmingham
Shuttleworth wrote: 'The cladding for me tries to reflect the heavy industries of Birmingham which I remember as a kid, the metal plate works and the car plants - and the inside is very crystalline, all glass; that to me is like the jewellery side of Birmingham, the lightbulbs and delicate stuff - it tries to reflect the essence of Birmingham in the building itself.'[22]
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An interesting looking statement building. But boasting the largest fully automated basement car park perhaps ties this building to Birmingham's past rather than its future? But more interesting to look at than the black glass cubes which seem to be the latest trend.
 
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Richard Dye said:
Those brutalist building are pretty bad!
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Some of the public housing schemes were unsuited to the British climate and flats with walkways became a haven for crime. The Rotunda is generally liked, but needs some maintenance I see. Coventry Cathedral works. There are also some new mostly Catholic churches in Birmingham with good design. The Cube is a luxury building and I guess you could say post-modern.
 
Stokkie said:
Some of the public housing schemes were unsuited to the British climate and flats with walkways became a haven for crime. The Rotunda is generally liked, but needs some maintenance I see. Coventry Cathedral works. There are also some new mostly Catholic churches in Birmingham with good design. The Cube is a luxury building and I guess you could say post-modern.
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Derek, it seems like they build like that the world over. I have seen them in China and Korea and to a lesser extent Japan.
 
library-of-birmingham.jpg
Current Library of Birmingham 2013. It has a roof top garden with good views over the city. I'm not really convinced that it is designed to allow people to read books, but that and its lack of finance are separate issues. That gold finish will need cleaning soon. [Pic Architects Journal whose readers voted it building of the year in 2013]
 
Stokkie said:
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Current Library of Birmingham 2013. It has a roof top garden with good views over the city. I'm not really convinced that it is designed to allow people to read books, but that and its lack of finance are separate issues. That gold finish will need cleaning soon. [Pic Architects Journal whose readers voted it building of the year in 2013]
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I think you are correct about reading books.............Also, as you suggest the design looks like it will be high maintenance, we know what happens when money gets tight. I'm not voting but it's not my style, I tend to be a traditionalist.
 
Stokkie said:
The Cube 196 Wharfside Street, Birmingham as seen from Gas Street Basin. Designed by Birmingham born Ken Shuttleworth and Make. Final phase of the Mailbox development. Luxury hotel, bars, restaurants, luxury flats and offices. Completed 2010.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cube,_Birmingham
Shuttleworth wrote: 'The cladding for me tries to reflect the heavy industries of Birmingham which I remember as a kid, the metal plate works and the car plants - and the inside is very crystalline, all glass; that to me is like the jewellery side of Birmingham, the lightbulbs and delicate stuff - it tries to reflect the essence of Birmingham in the building itself.'[22]
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Love those narrow boats!
 
I'm what I'd call a "selective or picky brutalist" fan (my own words!). The Guardian article attached by Mike in post #3 has one example which I love and, for some reason seems overlooked: Grosvenor House on New Street. I like it because it's less brutal and is, to me, a good example of incorporating modernism into the urban landscape. I'm also a fan of Smallbrook Queensway for the same reason. I like the Queensway's long, curved sweep and how the concrete between each floor is punctuated with relief sculpting.Viv.

Screenshot_20230618_115546_Maps.jpg
 
Vivienne14 said:
I'm what I'd call a "selective or picky brutalist" fan (my own words!). The Guardian article attached by Mike in post #3 has one example which I love and, for some reason seems overlooked: Grosvenor House on New Street. I like it because it's less brutal and is, to me, a good example of incorporating modernism into the urban landscape. I'm also a fan of Smallbrook Ringway for the same reason. Viv.

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Nice one, Viv. Extract from Historic England description:

'Grosvenor House is a commercial office building with shops and a bank on the ground floor, situated on the corner of Bennett’s Hill and New Street in the centre of Birmingham. It was built in 1953-5, before the restrictions imposed by Building Licences were removed in 1954, as a speculative office building first occupied by Shell-Mex BP to a design by the architects’ firm Cotton, Ballard & Blow, who also built Campden Hill Tower in Notting Hill, London in 1957-61. Jack Cotton (1903-1964) of Cotton, Ballard & Blow was a Birmingham-born entrepreneur and property developer, behind much city-centre building in Birmingham in the 1930s. Cotton, like his father and grandfather, was a prominent member of the Jewish community in Birmingham. After the Second World War he became a dominant figure in commercial property development in England. His dealings, first as Central Commercial Properties, then as Ravenseft and finally as City Centre Properties, erected new shopping centres and office buildings that transformed England's city centres, especially Birmingham. In the latter years of his life, Cotton invested in the Pan Am Building in New York, USA.'
 
Viv,
It is said to evoke the first Chicago commercial style. Let's hope future generations can continue to enjoy it! It is clad with artificial stone slabs which protects us from the glare of raw concrete.
Derek
 
This bank on Bordesley Green is a surprising building for it’s location. Have not been able to find any information about it. I don’t remember it having blue cladding originally?
 

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Vivienne14 said:
I'm what I'd call a "selective or picky brutalist" fan (my own words!). The Guardian article attached by Mike in post #3 has one example which I love and, for some reason seems overlooked: Grosvenor House on New Street. I like it because it's less brutal and is, to me, a good example of incorporating modernism into the urban landscape. I'm also a fan of Smallbrook Queensway for the same reason. I like the Queensway's long, curved sweep and how the concrete between each floor is punctuated with relief sculpting.Viv.

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Now that is not a bad looking building! Some style and texture to it.
 
Tinpot said:
This bank on Bordesley Green is a surprising building for it’s location. Have not been able to find any information about it. I don’t remember it having blue cladding originally?
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Hi Tinpot,
https://birminghamhistory.co.uk/forum/index.php?threads/lloyds-bank-branch-bordesley-green.56221/Was William correct? I'm thinking that the upper story might have been refinished in blue. Most commercial buildings these days don't have architects. Builders can use a design program and pull from a library of building designs. I'm afraid that Birmingham has many undistinguished buildings and this is set to continue. Jack Cotton mentioned above was a speculative property developer and not an architect, though the others in the firm who designed Grovesnor House were trained architects, so there is a long tradition! I like the use of blue on the bank's upper story. A happy creation by Anon? Of course having a (big name) architect doesn't mean that the public will like the work. Derek
 
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Stokkie said:
Hi Tinpot,
https://birminghamhistory.co.uk/forum/index.php?threads/lloyds-bank-branch-bordesley-green.56221/Was William correct? I'm thinking that the upper story might have been refinished in blue. Most commercial buildings these days don't have architects. Builders can use a design program and pull from a library of building designs. I'm afraid that Birmingham has many undistinguished buildings and this is set to continue. Jack Cotton mentioned above was a speculative property developer and not an architect, though the others in the firm who designed Grovesnor House were trained architects, so there is a long tradition! I like the use of blue on the bank's upper story. A happy creation by Anon? Of course having a (big name) architect doesn't mean that the public will like the work. Derek
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I’m not really sure what is on some builder/developers minds, maybe they are blinded by ego. Being facetious, whomever is building or approving the monies surely must have some idea.
 
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