Architecture of Birmingham - Edwardian and Inter-war Architecture

Edwardian and Inter-war Architecture

The late-Victorian era of red brick and terracotta gave way to coloured glazed terracotta - faïence: examples being the Trocadero in Temple Street, completed around 1902, and the Piccadilly Arcade, completed in 1909 as a cinema, on New Street. Glazed brick was also used with examples including Moor Street Station (1909–1914). Terracotta still remained in use, for example, in the Methodist Central Hall (1903-4) on Corporation Street. Classical architecture made a return as a preferred choice of architecture during the 1920s and 1930s as well as Art Deco, which was pioneered during the latter decade.

The original buildings of the University of Birmingham, including its clock tower and The Barber Institute of Fine Arts (opened 1939), and the large Council House Extension and bridge housing the Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery (1911–1919) are from this period. S.N. Cooke and W.N. Twist's Hall of Memory (1922–25) and T. Cecil Howitt's Baskerville House on Broad Street (1938) were part of a large civic complex scheme designed by William Haywood. The Trinity Road Stand at Aston Villa's Villa Park ground was completed in 1924, and was considered the grandest in the land, complete with stained glass windows, Italian mosaics and sweeping staircase, it was thought of as architect Archibald Leitch's masterpiece and was described as "the St Pancras of football" by a Sunday Times reporter in 1960. It was demolished in 2000. The Blue Coat School in Harborne dates from 1930, the King Edward VI boys' and girls' schools in Edgbaston from 1840, and the Queen Elizabeth Hospital from 1933-8. A distinctive Art Deco cinema is the Odeon in Kingstanding (1935). Many cinemas were constructed by Oscar Deutsch who commissioned Birmingham-born architect Harry Weedon to design many of these cinemas. Weedon's designs also extended to industrial buildings and he designed the Typhoo Tea factory in Digbeth in 1936.

Art-Deco architecture became popular in the design of cinemas, however, it was not so widespread in other buildings and its use was very limited in Birmingham. In 1933, the new Kent Street Baths, operated by the Birmingham Baths Committee, was completed to a design by Hurley Robinson. This is one of the first non-cinema buildings in Birmingham to feature this style of architecture. Another prominent building exhibiting this style is the former Times Furbishing Company store on the High Street in Birmingham, now a Waterstone's store. The building was completed in 1938 to a design by Burnett and Eprile.

The Bournville Village Trust was set up in 1900 to manage the Bournville estate and public buildings growing around Cadbury's in Bournville. Much of the planning was done by William Alexander Harvey. In addition, the Birmingham-born architect, Town Planner and Secretary of the Birmingham Civic Society, William Haywood, did much to raise the profile of the improvement of Birmingham in the inter-war years.

The reformed pubs started just after 1900 - large 'family' pubs intended to replace the workers' and drinking men's pubs of the previous century. Such pubs included The Black Horse on the Bristol Road in Northfield which was completed in 1929.

Birmingham's first multi-storey block of flats was built in 1937 on the Bristol Road. The building, called Viceroy Close, was designed by Mitchell and Bridgwater in partnership with Gollins and Smeeton. It also features sculptures by Oliver O'Connor Barrett. In the same year, the Art Deco "Petersfield Court" in Hall Green was completed. The building contains 14 flats and consists of large curved corner windows.