Postcard From Birmingham, Part Seven

Shall we climb the Minecraft Library of Birmingham as far as Mrs AWS’s iffy-with-heights wobbly legs will take her? Find a balcony and enjoy the vista? Yes, we will, and we’ll take a few photos starting in the east and heading west. As ever, we say what we see and do some research.

Always Worth Saying, Going Postal
Photo One: Left of the the library balcony.
© Always Worth Saying 2024, Going Postal

To the left, the light-coloured structure with the obvious dark glass extension to the roof is Baskerville House. Grade A office space at the epicentre of Birmingham’s premier business location, the Grade II listed building offers quality flexible space fronting the impressive centenary square – according to the guff. The sales brochure continues, ‘Occupiers will be able to enjoy stunning views across the city centre as well as modern, light and flexible office spaces.’ The brochure also informs us the city’s business district is split into six zones, with Baskerville House being next to ‘Paradise’. The other five are Snowhill, Colmore Business District, Arena Central, the sinister-sounding Axis Square and the unimaginatively named Mailbox. From our lookout on the library balcony, we can see Paradise to the left and Arena Central opposite.

As for the original occupiers who enjoyed those stunning views, Baskerville House in Birmingham is a notable example of neoclassical architecture with a rich history dating back to the early 20th century. It stands on the site of John Baskerville’s former home. After Baskerville, a famous printer and typeface designer, died in 1775 the area remained undeveloped for many years. In the early 1900s, Birmingham City Council planned to build a civic centre, and Baskerville House was conceived as part of this grand vision. Designed by architect T. Cecil Howitt, construction began in 1938 but World War II interrupted. The building was finally completed but plans for further surrounding civic buildings were never realized due to changed post-war priorities and financial constraints.

Baskerville House housed government offices and became an essential part of the city’s administrative functions. By the late 20th century, the building fell into disrepair until it underwent a major renovation in the early 2000s. The refurbishment modernized the interior while preserving the historic façade. Today, Baskerville House is a prominent commercial office space, reflecting Birmingham’s blend of historical significance and contemporary development.

Always Worth Saying, Going Postal
Photo Two: Baskerville House and the Minecraft Birmingham Library
© Google Street View 2024, Google.com

Heading right in Picture One, at the bottom sits a statue of King Edward VII. Unveiled in 1913, this honours the king who died in 1910. The Birmingham Mail launched an appeal to erect a statue to commemorate his reign. Over £5,000 was quickly raised. Sculpted by Albert Toft, Carrera marble depicts the king in royal regalia. The base is adorned with bronzes. Owing to the endless redevelopments of the city centre, the statue has seen more of Birmingham than King Edward ever did. Originally, it stood in Victoria Square but relocated to Highgate Park in the 1950s due to redevelopment. It remained there until 2010 when following restoration it was moved to Centenary Square as part of Birmingham’s efforts to rejuvenate the area and celebrate its historical landmarks.

As in ancient Greece one gazed across the river Styx to the underworld, so from the lower balcony of a Birmingham library one can look across a dual carriageway overpass to Paradise. According to the Baskerville House brochure, Paradise is delivering a new £700m mixed-use development with ten new buildings. The first two, at the time of preparing the sales guff, were complete and created ‘a professional and financial services hub with PwC in One Chamberlain Square and DLA Piper, Knights Plc, Mazars and Atkins at Two Chamberlain Square.’ The next phase was underway with One Centenary Way under construction and set to be the home to Arup’s city campus with a further office building, hotel, BtR tower and new public square following on.

Are we supposed to be enthusiastic about this?

Back in Photo One, the six(?) story black building to the left of the dual carriageway overpass is the Copthorne Hotel. I’d love to give you an overnight price and repeat some of the reviews but the accommodation search engines come up with ‘not available’ no matter what dates I type in. Is it full of illegal immigrants? Reference to the Lee Anderson Appreciation Group Facebook page (not a joke, check it out for yourselves) tells of many requisitioned Copthorne hostelries, but not this one. Worse (better?) than that, this Copthorne sits empty awaiting demolition and has done for some years. A Birmingham Mail article from June 2022 reveals all:

‘The Copthorne Hotel has buttressed the Centenary Square end of Broad Street since the late 1980s. But after its glass-and-girders twin Chamberlain House was demolished in little more than a weekend four years ago, the end is nigh for what will soon be the ‘last man standing.” Demolition of The Central Library began on December 14th 2015 and since then other buildings demolished in the area included the Adrian Boult Hall, Birmingham Conservatoire and Fletchers Walk Shopping Centre. An office block at 77 Paradise Circus was being dismantled bit by bit in the Summer of 2022 with the Copthorne Hotel being the final piece of the ‘old jigsaw’ to be taken away. Before Puffins not in the know become dewy-eyed over the imagined fine lines of the Boult and the Conservatoire, the exact quote from the Mail is ‘Brutalist-led old jigsaw’.

Meanwhile, the value of the Paradise redevelopment site is now said to have risen to £1.2 billion. Up from £500 million a decade ago, compared to the £700 million mentioned in the Baskerville House brochure. The Mail feature concludes by teasing, ‘Before the Octagon arrives in 2025 – the world’s tallest building of its type – here’s our last look around the outside of the Copthorne Hotel.’ Important intelligence from the Mail. We learn that there is such a thing as an emerging Octagon and that the Paradise development takes its name from Paradise Circus.

This was the heart of medieval Birmingham, with religious and civic structures dominating the landscape. The historic Birmingham Town Hall, built in 1834, was a centerpiece, alongside St. Philip’s Cathedral and the old King Edward’s School, both significant landmarks in Victorian times. The area was redeveloped in the mid-20th century when post-war modernist planning led to the construction of the (now demolished) Paradise Circus complex in the 1960s. That complex emerged as a concrete, traffic-heavy island, with the Central Library, designed by John Madin, becoming one of its most notable Brutalist structures. Though functional, this design was criticized for its harsh, brutal aesthetic, creating a physical and symbolic barrier between the city centre and surrounding districts.

By the early 2000s, Birmingham city planners sought to transform the area into a more accessible, pedestrian-friendly space. A massive redevelopment project began in 2015, resulting in the demolition of the old library and other buildings, making way for the new “Paradise” development. The building work continues, with the Copthorne still awaiting demolition while the aforementioned Octagon rises left of Photo One. Myself and my wife wandered in that direction. Mrs. AWS snapped the following:

Always Worth Saying, Going Postal
Photo Three: The Octagon.
© Always Worth Saying 2024, Going Postal

Perhaps optimistic to expect it to be finished by next year, but there is already a sales brochure. Apparently, The Octagon is the world’s first purely octagonal high-rise residential building and is creating an instantly recognisable addition to the skyline that will become as iconic as other modernist city landmarks such as the 265-foot tall Rotunda next to New Street. Rising to a height of over 500ft, the tower will be Birmingham’s tallest building, providing residents with unprecedented views of the cityscape and beyond.

The Octagon will house 370 purpose-designed Build-to-Rent homes across its 49 storeys, offering a mix of one, two and three-bedroom options, including ‘affordable’ homes. Amenities on the ground floor of the building will bring life and activity to the street frontages, as well as convenience and well-being support for residents. Designed by Birmingham-based Howells Architects, the building’s unique shape will create apartments that are larger, wider and lighter than conventionally shaped equivalents. Large opening windows will frame the exceptional vistas of city life.

Which begs a question. PwC are in One Chamberlain Square. DLA Piper, Knights Plc, Mazars and Atkins are at Two Chamberlain Square. As we shall see, HSBC are in residence close by. And with 370 Council Taxes on the Octagon’s third of an acre footprint, how come the local council went bankrupt?

To be continued…
 

© Always Worth Saying 2024