Birmingham City Centre guidebook

 Vision for New Street Station

If you take the train to Birmingham you'll probably end your journey at New Street Station. But don't let that put you off.

With all the aesthetic appeal of a low-slung concrete bunker, New Street, a tired hangover from the 1960s, is a disappointing introduction to the country's second largest city, and a source of constant frustration to the locals.

Thankfully it's also wholly unrepresentative of contemporary Birmingham.

And with a £598m makeover in the pipeline (pic opposite) it will soon be as distant a memory as its sister carbuncle, the late, and not at all lamented, Bull Ring shopping centre.

Bullring

The Bull Ring (as the original was spelled), like the station, was built in the 1960s, and it shared its forbidding aesthetic, but following demolition and reconstruction (2003) it’s now one of the most dazzling and cleverly designed shopping malls in Britain.

Actually, to call the Bullring a mall is to underestimate its achievement: this is the centre-piece of a confident, imaginative and at times quite brilliant remodelling of the city centre.

To get the full effect, approach it from the pleasantly pedestrianised New Street which opens out at one end to reveal the glittering glass walls of the reconstructed shopping centre.

A big bronze bull rampages at the main entrance, but the real show-stopper is brought to you courtesy of the site's gradient, which slopes 19 metres from north to south.

Selfridges

  Selfridges
As you crest the ridge of the hill you're suddenly rewarded with a spectacular view of St Martin's Church which, thanks to the dramatic topographical tilt, lies below the piazza that separates the two halves of the shopping centre.

A viewing platform at the end offers fine views over the church, now surrounded by a public square, while to the left Future System's startling Selfridge's building shimmers, billows and bewitches.

This sinuous sculptural form, clad in 15,000 aluminium discs, is one of the finest pieces of contemporary architecture in the country, and it’s no surprise that Brummies have taken it to their hearts, transforming it from a mere building into an iconic symbol of the city reborn.

London may have a big Ferris wheel and Lord Foster's Gherkin, but can either really hold a candle to this otherworldly delight? Go see it and you'll have no trouble finding an answer.

Transforming Economy

Old Birds Custard Factory

If Selfridges is Birmingham looking to the future, that future involves an economic as well as an architectural shift in the city's fortunes.

It’s a hoary old historical cliché to point out that Birmingham was once the workshop of the world, but so it was.

In the nineteenth century Czech composer Antonin Dvorak fetched up here and wrote:

"I'm in this immense industrial city where they make excellent knives, scissors, springs, files and goodness knows what else, and, besides these, music too. And how well! It's terrifying how much the people here manage to achieve."

Aside from scissors and knives, the city has also given us, in no particular order:

Cadbury's, Bournville

Bakelite and Bird's Custard, guns and gaslight, celluloid and transatlantic cable, steel nibs and Typhoo tea, football whistles and windscreen wipers, Brylcream and Cadbury's chocolate, motorcycles and automobiles, HP Sauce and Thomas the Tank Engine, Lloyds Bank and HSBC.

But like many British cities, manufacturing has dwindled over the past thirty years. In 1971 it accounted for 47 per cent of the city's economy but by 2005 it had slumped to just 11 per cent.

In the same period the services sector grew from 45 per cent to 85 per cent. Of this, public administration has a 30.8 per cent share, followed by banking and finance (21.5 per cent), and distribution, hotels and restaurants (21 per cent).       
 

The New Birmingham

Birmingham University

That's quite a turnaround, and not an easy one to come to terms with.

Birmingham's answer has been to devote its energies to professional knowledge-based services, education and research, tourism and high-tech industry, shopping, leisure and culture.

And it's been doing this very successfully. Here are a few facts that highlight its economic performance:

• Retail: Central Birmingham is second only to London in retail rankings and in 2005 it was voted the best shopping centre in Europe.

• Finance: Birmingham's professional and financial sector is the largest in the UK outside London and employs an estimated 100,000 people. In an Oxford Intelligence report on the best shared service centres in the European market Birmingham was ranked fifth (ahead of London and Manchester). 

• Higher Education: Birmingham is home to three universities (61,000 students) and two university colleges. Aston University is ranked ninth in the UK for employability of its graduates; The University of Birmingham is rated as one of the top five research institutions in the UK.

• Manufacturing: Although manufacturing has declined, the city is still home to some major brands: Jaguar, Cadbury Trebor Bassett, Goodyear Dunlop, Aston Martin.

• Transport: Thanks to its central location Birmingham has been ranked as the best city for external transport links in the UK (Cushman & Wakefield).

• Culture: The Barber Institute of Fine Arts was declared 'Gallery of the Year' in 2004; its education programme is rated as one of the finest in the country.

More To Come

CGI of forthcoming V-Building

All of this has helped lift Birmingham out of its post-industrial decline, and the place is now well on the way to reinventing itself for the 21st century.

A walk round the city centre reveals a bustling, sophisticated and cosmopolitan place.

The shopping is superb, there are zillions of cafes, bars and restaurants, the cultural facilities are top-notch, and the fine squares and plazas are flanked by some splendid architecture.

Regeneration has been central to the Birmingham's  rebirth, and thus far has made intelligent use of the city's heritage, notably the canals; jewellery-making; and gun manufacturing.

The scale of the transformation means that people who left Birmingham 20 years ago would scarcely recognise the place now, but there's plenty more to come.

The number of building projects – commercial, residential and mixed use – underway or in the pipeline is staggering.

Over the next ten years £16.7 billion will be invested in developments across all of the city's wards, the largest undoubtedly being the 400-acre regeneration of Eastside, close to the city centre.

Below is a run through what you'll find there, and what's on the way.

THE PROPERTY MARKET IN BIRMINGHAM CITY CENTRAL

The council divides the city into five quarters (interesting maths!) though from a property point of view there are seven key neighbourhoods in central Birmingham.

1. The Central Quarter

The Rotunda

Where is it? Smack bang in the middle, it used to be surrounded by the dreaded concrete ring roads (the 'concrete collar').

Now it's bounded by Suffolk St Queensway, Great Charles St Queensway, St Chads Queensway, James Watt Queensway, and Park Street.

What's there? The administrative, financial, legal and retail centre of Birmingham. 

Lots of shops on the pedestrianised New Street, and hundreds more in Bullring, Pallasades, the Burlington Arcade, the Great Western Arcade, and the Pavilions. 

The city's business district is also here, off Colmore Row, as are the law courts and Birmingham Cathedral. New Street station is just off New Street. 

Property: Mainly apartments. Some notable developments include the Beetham Tower on Holloway Circus, 400 ft of mixed-use space with 158 swish apartments on the top twenty floors.

The 22-storey Rotunda tower block, formerly offices, and part of the original Bullring, is now being revamped by Urban Splash and will feature 234 luxury apartments.

Snowhill, off Colmore Row, is to have a mixed-use scheme that will include a five star hotel and a 44-storey tower with over 300 apartments (2009-10).

If you're looking for a pad in this Quarter with some historic character, you could try B-Central on Paradise Street. This used to be the Queen's College, but now the Grade II listed building has been converted into luxury apartments.

There are also some nice old Victorian buildings in the legal district, off Colmore Row and Temple Street, with attractive apartments (eg: Essex House on Temple Street and Newton Chambers on Cannon Street).

2. Convention Quarter & Southside

Where is it? It starts at Paradise Circus and ends at Five Ways. Board Street connects the two, and the neighbourhood lies north and south of this busy main thoroughfare. South of Broad Street is sometimes called Southside.

The canal runs north to south through the area, crossing Broad Street just below Brindleyplace and flows through Gas Basin as far as Commercial Street, where it turns away from the city and on to Edgbaston.

North of Broad Street it divides above the Sea Life Centre, with one spur (Birmingham & Fazeley) heading east towards the Jewellery Quarter.

Property: Where to begin? This neighbourhood has seen an astonishing amount of development, mainly apartment blocks around the canal (especially south of Broad Street).

The names tell their own story, evoking history, local landmarks, and contemporary aspirations: Viva, The Glasshouse, Liberty Place, Royal Arch, King Edwards Wharf, The Base, The Mill, Centenary Plaza, Sherborne Lofts, Postbox, Watermarque.

It features two four-acre parks, the largest area of parkland within the city ring road. When finished, Crest Nicholson will have provided 1,600 new homes, 250 of which are freehold town houses.

But this is not the only big new development. Others include the iconic 23-storey The Cube, next to the Mailbox; the Broad Street Tower, a 40-storey high-rise; and Dandara's the V Building, a 50-storey tower with 600 apartments. This, when finished, will be Britain's tallest residential tower.

Note: Confusingly, there's a development by Crosby Homes called Southside, but it's off Hurst Street in China Town just south of the Bullring. It has 461 studios and one- and two- bedroom apartments.

3. The Jewellery Quarter

Where is it? North of the city centre. The borders are Great Charles Queensway, Sandpits Parade, Icknfield Street and Great Hampton Street/Livery Street.

What’s there? This has been a site of jewellery making for over 250 years and is still home to 400 jewellery businesses.

The world's largest Assay Office, which hallmarks around 13,000,000 items per year, is here, as are the museum of jewellery making, the Birmingham Institute of Art & Design, numerous independent galleries and workshops, and a growing media presence. The Centre for Design Excellence is currently being built here.

Jewellery Quarter is a conservation area with over 200 listed buildings, including one of Birmingham's few remaining Georgian enclaves around St Paul's Square.

Brindley House

There's a Metro and train station stop at Jewellery Quarter, a Metro stop at St Pauls, and a Metro and train stop at Snowhill. There's also a good village vibe around Vyse Street with shops, bars and restaurants aplenty. 

The plan is to turn the Jewellery Quarter into a creative hub and visitor destination, a role it seems perfectly set up to fulfil.

Property: There's been a lot of development here, both new-build apartment blocks and smart loft-style conversions of workshops and warehouses.

The canal runs through the southern half of the area (just north of Great Charles Street Queensway) and has attracted a lot of development, especially around Newhall Street, Fleet Street, George Street, and Charlotte Street.

St Paul's Square

Nehwall Square is one of the larger canalside developments underway here and will include a Travelodge and 235 apartments. Part of the scheme will convert the old Elkington Electroplating, more recently the Birmingham Science Museum.

MCD Development's Islington Gates is also by the canal and features 142 luxury apartments and penthouses as well as cafes, shops and restaurants.

The landmark Brindley House on Newhall Street (also MCD) rises to 17 floors and includes 182 apartments.

There's also some activity around Birmingham's Georgian gem, St Paul's Square – the conversion of period buildings as well as some new-build.

One of the largest projects in the Jewellery Quarter is Chord Deeley's St George's, a £160m mixed-use scheme on a former factory site which will include 720 new homes, hotels, restaurants and commercial space.

But it’s not all large scale stuff: elsewhere in the Jewellery Quarter you'll find some interesting smaller developments, such as Viti's live/work warehouse conversion on Hylton Street.

With so many old workshops dotted about the neighbourhood there's considerable scope for more of the same. Factor in the jewel making and this area is well on the way to becoming Birmingham's Clerkenwell (Hatton Gardens).

4. Eastside & Irish Quarter

A vast project. Over 400 acres of neglected brownfield land east of Birmingham City Centre will be regenerated to create an area that offers residential, work, retail, and education facilities.

We've written a detailed feature on this, so if you want to know more go here:

Birmingham’s Eastside Story  (11 Feb 2008) Once a neglected tangle of car parks and main roads, Birmingham's Eastside is undergoing a metamorphosis… ...More

        5. Gun Quarter

The Hub

Where is it? A small neighbourhood between the Jewellery Quarter, Eastside and the Central Quarter.

The old Gun Quarter was confined to streets around St Mary Whittall Street Church, but for our purposes the area can be thought of as bounded by Great Hampton Street/Constitution Hill to the west, New St Johns Street to the north, Corporation Street to the east and St Chads Queensway to the south.

What's there? Birmingham has a long history of gun manufacturing, one going back to the English Civil War.

By 1865 nearly ten thousand workers were employed in the gun trade, with 210 companies located in the Gun Quarter, among them famous names like Farmer and Galton and Welbey & Scott.

The Birmingham Proof House was established in 1813 by Act of Parliament, and between 1855 and 1861 six million arms were tested and proofed.

It still operates today (Banbury Street) and is the only official proof house outside London (for more see Made in Birmingham ).

You can still find a good double-barrelled shot gun in these parts – there are several gun makers still in business on Price Street.

Also close by are the Birmingham Children's Hospital and the Dental Hospital (south of St Chads Queensway) and Aston University (the other side of James Watts Queensway). Snow Hill station is also just south of St Chads Queensway.

There are a couple of venerable old pubs in this area too, with gun-making associations – The Gunmakers Arms (Bath Street), the award-winning The Bull (Price Street), and The Olde Lane (Summer Lane).

The area is well placed for quick access to the M42, M5 and M6 motorways.

Property: Not a huge stock of property here at the moment – this is largely a post-industrial area – but the place is tipped as one to watch.

There are certainly plenty of old warehouses and workshops that could be converted, as well as the benefit of the canal passing through here.

First out of the blocks has been Crosby Homes with their Hub development on Clive Passage, off Summer Lane. This canalside scheme is on the site formerly known as Honduras Wharf and includes 123 apartments in a seven storey building.

The scheme has some of the lowest priced entry level apartments in the city centre – a measure, no doubt, of the area's newness - with flats available from just £99,950. 

Crosby Homes say: "As the first open market scheme in the area for nearly a decade, the scheme is expected to kick-start a huge regeneration push in the immediate vicinity.

"Hub has quickly found its market with city professionals attracted by the development’s canalside position adjacent to the Snowhill redevelopment and just two minutes’ walk from Colmore Row and the traditional city core.

"With the redevelopment of Snowhill well under way, the Gun Quarter is expected to be transformed over the next decade and will link in with the city’s key business district.

"Property speculators and investors are now visiting the area in their droves, and with a canal running through the heart of the forgotten quarter, its latent potential will soon be unlocked." We shall see.

LIVING HERE

Transport

Train: New Street Station links Birmingham to London, Manchester, Liverpool, Nottingham, Newcastle, Wales and Scotland.

It also links the city to key locations in the West Midlands. The station serves over 31 million people every year. A major overhaul is in the pipeline.

Snow Hill is the second largest station and a hub for Midlands' services (which run to Doridge via Solihull, Stratford Upon Avon and Worcester).

It also links to the city Metro system.

Moor Street station provides services to London, Solihull, Stratford Upon Avon and the Jewellery Quarter.

Metro: The Midland Metro is a tram line linking Birmingham Snow Hill to Wolverhampton, via West Bromwich, Wednesbury and Bilston.

Bus: The city has an excellent bus service, which is just as well since the train and tram system has limited coverage. Almost one million people a day use the bus in the West Midlands. It is the most popular form of public transport in the region.

Air: Birmingham International Airport has two terminals and serves over 40 different airlines. Destinations across Europe, also flights to N. America, Canada and parts of Asia. More info here: Birmingham Airport Guide.

Shopping

Central Birmingham is second only to London in retail rankings. There are several shopping malls (including Bullring) and the three excellent markets in the Central Quarter, as well as numerous high street favourites on the pedestrianised New Street.

Lots of jewellery shops in the Jewellery Quarter, and if you need a gun head over to Price Street!

Like many city centres, not great for residents in search of a pint of milk – more needs to be done on this front.

Entertainment

Theatres: Birmingham has a fine choice of theatres, and a good reputation for quality productions. The main venues are The Old Rep, Birmingham Repertory, The Hippodrome, The Crescent, and The MAC Arts Centre.

Classical Music: Birmingham is the only city outside London with a symphony orchestra (splendidly housed in Symphony Hall) and a ballet company.

Museums & Galleries

Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery: Includes a large collection of pre-Raphaelite works.

The Ikon: Features artists from around the world, and has a busy education programme.

ThinkTank: The Museum of Science & Discovery, which includes a Planetarium. This is at Millennium Point, a vast educational and academic resource built to celebrate and encourage science, technology and education.

Barber Institute of Fine Arts: Located in University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, it contains one of the finest small collections of European art in the UK.

Works by Botticelli, Holbein, Rubens, Van Dyck, Rembrandt, Gainsborough, Turner, Delacroix, Rossetti, Whistler, Manet, Degas, Monet, van Gogh, Rodin, Gauguin, Picasso, Matisse, Magritte, and Schiele.

St Paul's Gallery: One of the largest galleries of contemporary art outside London.

Museum of the Jewellery Quarter: History of the 200-year old Jewellery Quarter.

The National Motorcycle Museum: In Solihull. It's recognised as the finest and largest motorbike collection in the world.

Pen Room: Promotes the interest in handwriting, writing equipment and writing accessories with particular reference to the Birmingham trades – the city was a major manufacturer of pens.

    Cinemas

UGC Cineworld: Multi-screen (12) at Fiveways (Broad Street).

Imax: Millennium Point. Vast screen and 3-D facilities.

Odeon: The oldest working cinema in the UK, it first opened on December 30th 1909. The building is now home to luxury sofa seating, waiter service and a full bar. New Street.