• Welcome to this forum . We are a worldwide group with a common interest in Birmingham and its history. While here, please follow a few simple rules. We ask that you respect other members, thank those who have helped you and please keep your contributions on-topic with the thread.

    We do hope you enjoy your visit. BHF Admin Team

Smallbrook Ringway

Vivienne14

Vivienne14

Kentish Brummie Moderator
Staff member
Strangely we don’t seem to have a thread for the Ringway. It’s often mentioned in threads but they’re ones dealing with another subject. So here goes ...

Two photos from, I think the 1960s when it had just become a part of the new ring road system. Whenever I think of Smallbrook Ringway I always remember the Big and Mighty (or was it Tall and Mighty?) shop. It was somewhere on the left of the B&W photo. Don’t remember there being so many shops as shown in the colour photo. And yet I must have walked the curve on quite a few occasions to get to the Scala Cinema. Viv

E35A1E06-8BCB-414B-A062-315BEC3222E3.jpegC8BFA6DC-8EF1-4102-BB36-931E20C9A803.jpeg
 
Last edited:
Vivienne14 said:
Strangely we don’t seem to have a thread for the Ringway. It’s often mentioned in threads but they’re ones dealing with another subject. So here goes ...

Two photos from, I think from the 1960s when it had just become a part of the new ring road system. Whenever I think of Smallbrook Ringway I always remember the Big and Mighty (or was it Tall and Mighty?) shop. It was somewhere on the left of the B&W photo. Don’t remember there being so many shops as shown in the colour photo. And yet I must have walked the curve on quite a few occasions to get to the Scala Cinema. Viv

View attachment 172194View attachment 172193
Click to expand...
We used to go to the Wimpy Bar for cheeseburgers, somewhere on the left side of the colour photo. Far superior to the later versions. Also down across Hurst street to the cinema that showed Art/Steamy films. A Japanese film called Woman of the Dunes was my favourite.
 
Another Phyllis Nicklin view. Looks like there are Christmas decorations along Smallbrook Queensway. The vertical ‘Scala’ sign doesn’t seem to have an ‘S’. This photo makes the concrete look quite drab, perhaps because it was a damp, winter’s day. Viv.

EDAE35CE-C595-4724-8BBA-BE85B4024EAD.jpeg
 
Vivienne14 said:
Another Phyllis Nicklin view. Looks like there are Christmas decorations along Smallbrook Queensway. The vertical ‘Scala’ sign doesn’t seem to have an ‘S’. This photo makes the concrete look quite drab, perhaps because it was a damp, winter’s day. Viv.

View attachment 172198
Click to expand...
Was the cinema always called the Scala? In my mind the Scala was somewhere else in town.
 
Stokkie said:
I have always enjoyed the curve of the building, a classic piece of brutalism which in this example really worked, together with the Rotunda. I think that the plan is to strip back the frontages, clad them in glass, build another two stories and a small 22 story tower block. Personally I liked it as it was.https://www.business-live.co.uk/com...-queensway-building-demolition-moves-11665566
Click to expand...
Yes I too like the sweep of the building and the old facade has lots of texture. Was one of the better designs of its time. Viv.
 
Historic England set out what Listing means here.https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/what-is-designation/listed-buildings/
The Ringway Centre was built since 1945, so the criteria are strict. 'The building was cleverly designed to make a large structure seem part of the human city environment. However, while the building's design and compatibility with its setting have distinct quality, it relies on considerable repetition of standardised parts and has undergone alteration to its exterior at ground floor level and to its interiors.' (Quoted in Wikipedia entry for Smallbrook Ringway.)

Alas, Brutalist (French for concrete) buildings are generally unloved. We will see if the new builds are any better.
 
mikejee said:
A lot of the block does seem in very bad condition. concrete does no last as well as stone or brick (if properly built)
Click to expand...
Agreed. Cleaning and repairing is necessary. I'm reminded that John Madin's Central Library was never cleaned or finished. It was intended to have been clad in white marble or limestone, but the money for this was not forthcoming.
 
Stokkie said:
I'm afraid that does not prevent demolition or redevelopment, but listing was refused in 2016 tabling the owner to redevelop. And in March 2022 they obtained a Certificate of Immunity from Listing.
Click to expand...
I have not come across Certificate of Immunity before. Interesting tactic for developers. I read that it does not prevent the extension of, or a new conservation area designation and only lasts 5 years.
 
Tinpot said:
I have not come across Certificate of Immunity before. Interesting tactic for developers. I read that it does not prevent the extension of, or a new conservation area designation and only lasts 5 years.
Click to expand...
Yes, in that period the building will be redeveloped or demolished. They seem to be issued if an application for listing is made, but fails. James Roberts' Triplex House in Kings Norton shares the same fate https://www.architectsjournal.co.uk...ding-to-be-demolished-after-listing-rejection
 
Vivienne14 said:
Strangely we don’t seem to have a thread for the Ringway. It’s often mentioned in threads but they’re ones dealing with another subject. So here goes ...

Two photos from, I think the 1960s when it had just become a part of the new ring road system. Whenever I think of Smallbrook Ringway I always remember the Big and Mighty (or was it Tall and Mighty?) shop. It was somewhere on the left of the B&W photo. Don’t remember there being so many shops as shown in the colour photo. And yet I must have walked the curve on quite a few occasions to get to the Scala Cinema. Viv

View attachment 172194View attachment 172193
Click to expand...
It was "High & Mighty" Viv. I worked in Hill Street for many a year, there were a few famous visitors too (Clint @ The Albany and Spencer Davis (as featured in the Games Closing Ceremony) trying to get over the road!). It's a great pity that so many shops have been shut recently in the vicinity and that the area is now so far from being, what it once was:
1660224599080.png 1660224690452.png 1660225550597.png
 
Vivienne14 said:
Not one pre-1960s building in this view !
View attachment 173347

And now some 1960s features have since disappeared. Does that pagoda type feature have any meaning ?
Viv.
View attachment 173348
Click to expand...
It serves as a landmark for the nearby Chinese Quarter Viv. It's 40' tall, was carved in Fujian, China and donated to the city by the Wing Yip brothers. It was erected in 1998 and the surrounding area turned into a Feng Shui garden, with a large Taijitu embedded in the pavement. It serves as a landmark for the nearby Chinese Quarter.

It was once quite nice around there and office workers used to sit there and have their lunch, when the weather was decent. There was once a bronze statue which was stolen and I think also a mosaic on the other side, that was covered over. Sadly, it soon became a place to avoid and became a meeting place for types that didn't appreciate office workers being on their patch, to the extent that staff were shouted at, when it was used as a meeting point for our fire alarms (we had to change our meeting place, as a result). Like much of the city centre, it's not what it once was.
 
The Ringway Centre gets a mention in Private Eye.

“Ringway Centre….230 m long is in firing line. Thought to be the longest single retail frontage in the country….Built as part of the Inner Ring Road reconstruction, and described as premier example of 20C 'carchitecture'….Plan to tear down the six storey building and replace with 3 skyscrapers of 44, 48 and 56 storeys mainly containing apartments.

Application for listing was rejected in 2017 and can’t be reconsidered until 2027…Counterproposals put in…”
 
Last edited:
Pedrocut said:
The Ringway Centre gets a mention in Private Eye.

“Ringway Centre….230 m long is in firing line. Thought to be the longest single retail frontage in the country….Built as part of the Inner Ring Road reconstruction, and described as premier example of 20C 'carchitecture'….Plan to tear down the six storey building and replace with 3 skyscrapers of 44, 48 and 56 storeys mainly containing apartments.

Application for listing was rejected in 2017 and can’t be reconsidered until 2027…Counterproposals put in…”
Click to expand...
I've just got around to fully reading that Eye. I see that The Birmingham Modernist Society and Zero Carbon House, have teamed up with C20 to oppose demolition. They made the counterproposal that retains the Ringway building and adds three round 20-storey towers "reflecting the shape of the Rotunda". As has been said, that represents an alternative to "trashing the city's history" totally.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top