Ringway Centre

Smallbrook Street was built up during the medieval period as the start of the route southwest of the Bull Ring Markets. By the early twentieth century the site of the Ringway Centre was occupied by many small Victorian commercial and residential buildings. In 1940 during World War II most of the buildings on the south side of Smallbrook Street were destroyed by German bombing, including the Frank Matcham designed Empire Palace Theatre of 1894 on the corner of Smallbrook Street and Hurst Street. A few buildings survived the Birmingham Blitz, most notably the Scala Cinema which stood at the western end of the Ringway until its demolition in 1960 for the construction of Scala House. From 1940…

The building was designed by local architect James Roberts who went on to design the Albany Hotel opposite in 1962 and the Grade II listed Rotunda in 1965. The structural elements of the entire building are constructed of in-situ and pre-cast concrete which was innovative at the time as no steel was needed in its construction and it was fire resistant. Architectural historian, Andy Foster describes the Ringway Centre as: The façade of the building has a blend of thin concrete mullions, bands of windows and relief panels. The pre-cast abstract geometric relief panels are similar in form to the works of Ben Nicholson. There are projecting sculptural concrete trough uplighters which highlight…