intrigue magazine
DESCRIPTION
One off magazine exploring the archtecture of birmingham, focusing on three key perspectives; reflections, decay and merge.TRANSCRIPT
All content copyright Intrigue Ltd 2011.Whilst we
make every effort to ensure that the factual work of this
magazine is correct we cannot take any responsibility
nor be held accountable for any factual errors printed.
IWalking around a crowded city, we rarley look at the surrounding buildings. This magazine is devoted to the old and new architecture around
Birmingham.Throughout this magazine we will focus on three main themes; reflections, decay
and merging.We hope you enjoy the visual delights included in
this issue.
Contentspagereflections
reflections1 2-3
8-9
6-74-5
10-11 12-13 14-15
20-21
30-31
16-17 22-231918
26-27 28-2924-25
pagereflectionsreflections
1
Just how many of us remember Birmingham Canal Navigation Office?
The modern buildings of Birmingham sit amongst the old.As the city is constantly redeveloping, more and more
new and exciting architecture greets our skylines.
As the old buildings crumble and fade into long distant memories, new
adventures and memories are built and developed.
Paradise Row? Chances are very few; the building was demolished in 1912.
Over 1,900 buildings are listed as protected in Birmingham. Yet many more
are scheduled for demolition as part of rejuvenation projects.
These ‘lost’ buildings will never be experienced again.
Perspectives
Perspectives
PPerspectives
erspectives
The details in the
older buildings are
by the reflections in
windows. Revealing
As we walk around
often we will look up
ery. More often than
along, travelling with
a window what do we
shop’s display or the
mimicked on its surface?
Birmingham, it’s not
and take in the scen-
not, we are ushered
the crowd. To look at
see? Ourselves, the
surrounding buildings
architecture of the
warped and distorted
the new buildings
unique perspective.
2
PerspectivesLooking into these mirrored
another world. A parallel
what we are used to.
surfaces we can see
universe in reverse to
erspectives
and ornate detail, these
of features that you could
The twisted and distorted
irregular new windows,
With meticulous curves
older styles have plenty
spend hours looking at.
version reflected in slightly
reveals a unique viewpoint.
3
Wa t e r
Wa t e r
waterWa t e r
Wa t e r
It’s not only windows that play with sunlight.
parent objects. And not all light comes from
atmosphere, where fluorescents and neon’s dominate.
Modern windows are uniform
in or square. They also reflect
surrounding buildings, creating a
10
Light
Shadows are created with solid and semi-trans-
the sun, at night; the city takes on a different
size and shape, often rectangular
the colours of the sky and its
symmetrical second city.
With advances in technology,
built taller, and the glass larger.
forgotten sunlight to shaded areas.
The lunar society got its name from attending meetings only in a full moon. There were no street lights, only the moon to guide them home
at night.
Glass was hard to
sheets. Old style win
many smaller panes.
of glass were varying
Darkmanufacture in large
dows are composed of
of glass were varying
in thickness.
modern building are able to be
These large panes of glass reflect
7
through Looking
With advances in technology and
unique and intriguing ways of
buildings have developed. The stun-
windows can reflect a true likeness
monuments maturity, or add
more materials at our usage, more
decorating surfaces of windows and
ning textures we can see on these
of the building opposite, enrich a
texture to a concrete structure
through
Glass
It’s not just the reflec
add appealing detail
are added with cur-
When looking at a
ately see the surface
at it in more detail ,
tion of the reflection.
tions of windows that
to our view. Textures
atains and transfers.
window we immedi-
pattern, when we look
we see the transforma
10
11
igbethDBy Astra Wheeler
Henry Bradford, who owned land on Bradford Street, played a large role in this. In 1767, he donated land
to anyone who wanted to trade there. In order to cater for all the workers on Bradford Street, there were over 20 public houses, with only three still remaining.
There were a number of well-known industrial com-panies that set up home in Digbeth, such as the Birming-ham Battery and Metal Company. In 1876, the Birming-ham Battery and Metal Company moved from Digbeth to Selly Oak. The Typhoo Tea Company was also settled in Digbeth’s S Rose and Co building from 1896 until 1978. Despite being used a warehouse after 1978, the old factory is currently vacant. In 1860, Bonser and Co, an iron mer-chant firm, also had a warehouse built in Digbeth,
Bird’s custard factory was also located here. It was founded by Alfred Frederick, and became a popular cus-tard company because they produced custard that didn’t include eggs. Even after the factory closed down, it was still used for other purposes. Part of the building was turned into a library. It opened in 1866, on October 26th, and now Deritend Library is now the oldest library build-ing in Birmingham, and is the only surviving library from the city’s original five free libraries. The custard factory is also now used as a conference centre, as well as an art ex-hibition space, holding events such as the clothing vintage fair.
Even though a lot of the old factories and warehouses are no longer in use, there is still a lot of industrial activ-ity in Digbeth. Over the next few years, due to the Big City Plan, this area of Birmingham will undergo a lot of redevelopment, converting the vacant buildings into more exhibition spaces, apartments, offices and retail premises.
igbeth
13
Digbeth
16
CurzonStreet Station
17Street Station
Curzon Station is an old train station located near the city centre of Birmingham. Today, only the entrance way
still exists, after the train station was closed down in 1966. The entrance is grade 1 listed building, and is the oldest
surviving railway building in the world. The station was built in 1838, and designed by architect
Philip Hardwick, who also designed the original Euston Station. His architectural design was inspired by Roman
architecture, which is evident through its four tall pillars at the front of the entrance, as well as a further four
at the back of the building and the architectural details attaching the pillars to the roof. When the station was in use,
is contained a booking room, stone staircase, refreshment room and offices.
Curzon Station was originally used as a terminus for the Birmingham and London railway, and the Grand Junction
Railway, connecting Birmingham to London, Manchester and Liverpool. The first train arrived to this station
arrived on September 17th 1838, leaving from London. It was originally known
as Birmingham Station, but was changed to Birmingham Curzon Street Station in November 1852.In 1854, New
Street station, currently one of the biggest train station’s in Birmingham, was completed and shared the Midlands
railway with Curzon Station. As there is only half a mile between the two stations, New Street became more popular,
and was being used instead of Curzon Street, which is why by 1854, Curzon Street station stopped transporting passengers
on long journeys, and was used as a goods station instead. However, it continued to run short journeys for passengers
until 1893. It also stopped being a goods station in 1966, when Curzon station closed its doors for good.
Curzon Street Station
The Co-op The old CO-OP furniture factory is located near Digbeth, Curzon Street station and Aston University. It was and old Victorian building that Birmingham City
council was trying to save. They planned to do this by redeveloping
the old factory. However, this all changed on January 11th 2007,
when it burnt down on what was believed to be an arson attack. It took 40
fire-fighters and 11 fire engines to put the fire out. Even though the outside and
most of the structure survived the fire, the roof collapsed on itself
due to the structure being weakened by strong winds.
FactoryCurzon Street Station
The co-op Factory
22
23
The constant development of architechtural structures in Birmingham
Cla
shes
of d
esig
ns, c
olou
rs, t
extu
res,
geom
etry
, lan
dsc
apes
Clashes of the Modern and the Classical buildings standing right next to each other, standing a road away, a path way yet are centuries apart in terms of creation
Adds a historical counterpoints against its dramatic neighbourWatch
This
This
The constant development of architechtural structures in Birmingham
Developing into its former industrial town, becoming a world class retail city
Clashes of the Modern and the Classical buildings standing right next to each other, standing a road away, a path way yet are centuries apart in terms of creation
Space
Adds a historical counterpoints against its dramatic neighbour
This
This
endless num
ber of builds and
renovations today
This
This
DiscoverTown Hall N
atwest Tow
er Rainbow C
asino Fire station tower W
aterstones Hall
Different
of memory Charles House The Wallis Suit National Provincial Bank
Discover
Worlds...Raddison Alpha Tower The Mailbox Colmore Gate
DifferentTh
e Ra
ddiso
n A
lpha
Tow
er Th
e M
ailb
ox C
olm
ore
Gat
e Th
e C
ube
The
of memory Charles House The Wallis Suit National Provincial Bank
Beyond the slick aluminium disks, LED
lighting and streams of shoppers you
find the hidden classics of the city. The
historical monuments of Birmingham:
Moore Street Train station and St.Martin’s
Church both either side of the iconic
Selfridges building.
A road away yet centuries apart with
the high beaming arches, great western
canopies and the criss crossing geom-
etry all unmasking distinctive features
of eras; showing
us changes and
development in
design and
technology to
enable such beautiful build-
ings to stand here today.
The beauty of these classi-
cal builds to the immediate
left and right of the Selfridges
building create a reflection
upon different styles from past
to present: somewhat allow-
ing us to live in different eras,
to uncover the city’s historical
roots and understand the soul
a regeneration of interest in the
city’s growth and industrialisation
throughout the years.
St.Martins church having a £1.9
million face lift funding the inter-
nal and external restoration of
the city, bought the 18th century
landmark back to the heart of
the city. The rock faced grimshill
of B
irmin
gham
.
Both
hist
oric
al m
onum
ents
are
liste
d bu
ildin
gs,
havi
ng g
one
thro
ugh
som
e re
nova
tion
and
face
lifts
to e
xagg
erat
e an
d em
phas
ize th
e
cont
empo
rary
Sel
fridg
es b
uild
ing.
Lea
ding
to
stone, sandstone interior and beaming
timbre roofing, exemplifies the gothic
splendour. Now allowing people to enjoy
the architecture and have a quiet prayer.
The Selfridges build cost a huge £530
million to build, with its criss crossing
A RoadAway yet
Centuries 28
stone, sandstone interior and beaming
timbre roofing, exemplifies the gothic
splendour. Now allowing people to enjoy
the architecture and have a quiet prayer.
The Selfridges build cost a huge £530
million to build, with its criss crossing
Away yet
Centuries
geom
etry
, refl
ectiv
e gl
ass,
chro
me,
spun
alu
min
ium
, LED
light
ing
and
sky
plan
e ro
of. I
t cov
ers a
n ar
ea o
f 25,
000
met
ers;
guzz
ling
thou
sand
s of s
hopp
ers
per d
ay: r
efre
shin
g th
e fo
rmer
indu
stria
l
city
into
the
mod
erni
satio
n.
Moo
re S
treet
stat
ion
havi
ng c
ost £11million in restoration to
bring it’s authentic features
of the Great Western Railway
style of train platforms, en-
trance canopies, old clocks,
foot bridges and bold iron
gates; back to how it would
have been back in its heyday.
Now enabling the station to
deal with the huge market
produced in the town centre.
Apart...
All three pieces of architecture
are strikingly different; centuries
apart, each either side of an
ultra modern Selfridges building.
They allow us to reflect on iconic
style, and add historic coun-
terpoints against its dramatic
By Khushbu Patelneig
hbou
r add
ing
war
mer
, hist
oric
al
coun
terp
oint
s to
the
mod
ern,
col
d, g
lass
filled
skyl
ine.
Ove
rall e
ach
and
ever
y
build
ing
is ac
cum
ulat
ing
Birm
ingh
am’s
stat
us a
s a th
rivin
g, c
ultu
ral,
ente
rtain
ing
and
indu
stria
l city
that
it is
toda
y!
29
Amongst the
Birmingham
doom & gloom
is the bright and Blue30
Amongst the
Birmingham
doom & gloom
is the bright and BlueThroughout Birmingham we are able to notice a very repeti-tive, muse, of the colour blue streaming through the archi-tecture, football team logo, university logos, blue brick rail-
ways etc. Although there are the yellow, red brick and concrete build-ings up today we can see that the bold blue colour has run through the classical builds to the modern structures up to-day; showing a distinctive as-
sociation of the colour blue and Birmingham throughout
the eras. From the elaborate detailing of blue flooring around Vic-toria square, to the bolder,
compulsive blockings of blue on the Radisson, the Cube building and several other structures sitting around Bir-
mingham. Is it getting to the point
where it is becoming an ob-sessive characteristic; with the all the modern buildings created in the colour and run-down buildings being rejuvenated with blue tinted glass? Or is it considered as
the soul of Birmingham?It’s not until you look around to realise the obsessive blue which we are surround-ed with in Birmingham… Are we living in a
blue planet?
Lyndsey HaleAstra WheelerKhushbu Patel
By