» Brutiful Brum:
ARE we upset about the destruction of Monaco House in Bristol Street? Were we upset about the demolition and rebuilding of the Bullring?
More to the point, are we concerned about the demolition of the Copthorne Hotel and Council Offices in Paradise Circus, even though they are part of the same destructive development that sounded the death knell for the Central Library?
We certainly and most emphatically are not.
As a group campaigning to preserve the best of late 20th century architecture we are more discerning. But we want to encourage planners and developers to be the same.
The late 20th century, as with other periods, produced buildings that were poorly designed and badly made from cheap materials.
Yet this city and successive planning committees have consistently failed to recognise the merit and heritage of the best examples of the post-war period.
Instead they are lumped together as “eyesores”, “ugly”, or “concrete monstrosities”.
But would we say the same of all buildings of the Georgian and Victorian period based on a few examples?
In those times developers threw up terraces of houses and other buildings that were of very dubious quality.
So let’s look at Birmingham’s best buildings from the late 20th century, all of which are under threat or altered out of recognition, and those of lesser quality. Let’s start with Auchinleck House
at Five Ways. Originally an honest, concrete and glass ten-storey modernist building of good proportions, it was designed by J Seymour Harris and Partners and completed in 1962.
Cascading down two sides was a wonderfully vibrant mural, illuminated at night, by Trewin Copplestone. Remember him? He designed the bulls on the side of the original 1960s Bull Ring shopping centre which are now also lost.
Topping it all was a delightful roof canopy adding a light and floating touch to the building.
So what has the makeover achieved? Yet another grey-clad building, two floors higher and out of proportion with the space it inhabits. Copplestone’s works of art are replaced by advertising screens – mammon gone mad!
A small remnant of the original building remains in the ground floor entrance hall for the Rofuto restaurant : marble cladding, a 1960s staircase and, spectacularly, a concrete mural.
A similar disaster is planned for the locally-listed Ringway Centre, in Smallbrook Queensway, designed by James Roberts, who was also the architect for the Rotunda.
Half of it will be demolished and the rest clad in glass and steel, obliterating the iconic concrete façade and any chance that the uplighters will yet again illuminate the concrete relief.
Two stories of glass will also be added to the height.
The result? Another faceless and disproportionate building.
In contrast, Scala House next door, in bad condition, of little architectural merit and poor-quality construction, will remain.
Moving to Corporation Square, on the corner of Bull Street and Corporation Street, we find a great, early example of precinct shopping and the only building in Birmingham by the architect Frederick Gibberd, famous for the Roman Catholic Cathedral in Liverpool.
It is a fine piece of architecture, well-constructed and faced in Portland stone. Later steel and glass additions are ill-judged, but not irreversible.
Corporation Square is due for demolition as part of a major new development. The precinct needs some TLC but has successfully achieved its purpose and remains to this day a vibrant shopping centre unlike the original Bull Ring centre of the same era.
The old Bull Ring was the first shopping mall in the city, but it was not a success. The architecture and materials were poor and the internal and external layout confusing, factors which meant it fell into decline.
It was a mistake and mistakes are allowed, but it doesn’t mean that all buildings of the same period are unworthy of preservation.
A look at two office buildings of the same period illustrate what the qualitative differences might be.
Monaco House, in Bristol Street, was a typical post-war office block constructed of concrete and steel.
It was a respectable solid building of the period, before it was allowed to fall into disrepair and was vandalised.
The building has now been demolished to make way for a major housing development. Cared for, it could have continued to be a perfectly functional building, but was not outstanding architecture. In contrast, the Chamber of
Commerce, in Harborne Road, Edgbaston, is a jewel of a building. Built in 1960, it was designed by world-famous Birmingham architect, John Madin, and clad in Portland stone with marble and slate features.
It is a fine building with original architectural design, good quality construction, kept in good repair and an asset to the area.
This building is now earmarked for demolition to make way for, yes, more offices of the bland and faceless kind with which we are becoming increasingly familiar.
All of us – the public, planners, councillors and developers – need to be more discerning about which buildings are worthy of preservation, whether from demolition or inappropriate alteration.
Birmingham is in grave danger of becoming a city of bland, characterless buildings. Is that what we want?
Brutiful Birmingham fights for the retention of the best of late 20th century buildings in Birmingham. Views are welcome at www. facebook.com/Brutiful-Birmingham, on twitter: twitter.com/brutifulbrum, or email brutiful2015@gmail. com. Next month, the group will be organising a walk around the Colmore Row business district.
This city has consistently failed to recognise the merit and heritage of the best examples of the post-war period