1 Lancaster Circus, Birmingham

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1 Lancaster Circus
County Hall - Lancaster Circus (geograph 3354898).jpg
1 Lancaster Circus in 2013
1 Lancaster Circus is located in West Midlands county
1 Lancaster Circus
1 Lancaster Circus
Location within West Midlands county
General information
Architectural styleBrutalist style
AddressBirmingham, West Midlands
CountryUnited Kingdom
Coordinates52°29′13″N 1°53′33″W / 52.4869°N 1.8924°W / 52.4869; -1.8924Coordinates: 52°29′13″N 1°53′33″W / 52.4869°N 1.8924°W / 52.4869; -1.8924
CompletedEarly 1970s

1 Lancaster Circus is a municipal facility in Birmingham, England. It was the headquarters of West Midlands County Council from its formation in 1974 until its abolition in 1986.

History[]

The building formed part of an initiative in the 1960s by Birmingham City Council to improve the road infrastructure in the area and to redevelop the city centre.[1] The site selected for development had previously been occupied by the "Perryian Pen Works", a business owned by Perry & Co., which ceased trading on the site in the 1960s.[2][3][4] The factory was demolished in the late 1960s and replaced, briefly, by a motor car and cycle accessory depot.[5]

The conversion of the depot into an office block, which was designed in the brutalist style, was completed in the early 1970s.[6] The design of the new building preserved the shape of the motor depot with a main frontage of 17 bays facing the Lancaster Circus roundabout, and then a long side wing of 34 bays extending along Staniforth Street.[2] The office block served as the headquarters of West Midlands County Council from its formation in April 1974 becoming known as "County Hall".[7][8][9]

Following the abolition of the county council in 1986,[10] the building was renamed 1 Lancaster Circus and occupied, as workspace, by the architecture, engineering, building, finance, environmental and consumer services departments of Birmingham City Council.[11][12] A programme of refurbishment works to convert the building to an open plan layout was undertaken by Wates Group at a cost of £23 million to plans by architects, Urban Design, and completed September 2010.[13][14] The redevelopment, which increased the capacity of the building from 800 occupants to 2,000 occupants and involved the installation of 179 chilled beams,[15] won a regional award from the British Council for Offices in 2011.[16][17]

References[]

  1. ^ "Birmingham city centre before the 1960s redevelopment". Royal Institute of British Architects. Retrieved 30 September 2020.
  2. ^ a b "Ordnance Survey Map". 1956. Retrieved 30 September 2020.
  3. ^ "The manufacturers". The Pen Room. Archived from the original on 21 March 2012. Retrieved 21 March 2012.
  4. ^ "Perry & Co". Grace's Guide. 2 October 2020. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
  5. ^ Bore, Henry (1890). "History of the Perryian Pen Works". Retrieved 1 October 2020.
  6. ^ "Estate Rationalisation" (PDF). Birmingham City Council. p. 10. Retrieved 7 October 2019.
  7. ^ The Macmillan Guide to the United Kingdom 1978-79. MacMillan Publishing. 1978. p. 484. ISBN 978-0333199084.
  8. ^ "No. 48329". The London Gazette. 3 October 1980. p. 13833.
  9. ^ "The County Council of West Midlands (M6 Motorway Junction 10) (Connecting Road) Scheme 1985". Legislation.co.uk. 2 October 2020. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
  10. ^ "No. 49121". The London Gazette. 27 September 1982. p. 12502.
  11. ^ "Lancaster Circus". Birmingham City Council. Retrieved 7 October 2019.
  12. ^ "Public service management: end of the metropolitan line: county councils face an uncertain future". The Independent. 13 August 1992. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
  13. ^ "Lancaster Circus Refurbishment Complete". Insider Media. 10 September 2020. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
  14. ^ "Office revamp opens 20 weeks ahead of schedule". The Business Desk. 15 September 2010. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
  15. ^ "Birmingham Council's chilled beam landmark". Business Live. 25 June 2009. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
  16. ^ "Lancaster Circus wins regional BCO Award". Square Dot. 26 May 2011. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
  17. ^ "Midlands and East Anglia: 1 Lancaster Circus, Birmingham". British Council for Offices. 2011. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
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