A brutalist landmark in the centre of Birmingham, described as an outstanding example of the city’s postwar “carchitecture”, is set to be demolished after councillors voted in favour of replacing it with apartment blocks.
Campaigners have been fighting to save the Ringway Centre for months, and dozens protested outside the council house as the planning meeting to decide its fate got under way on Thursday.
The Twentieth Century Society, which placed the building at the top of its at risk register this year, said the decision was “another devastating assault on the city’s postwar heritage and a failure of imagination to not renew and repurpose this landmark building”.
“It’s especially frustrating because Birmingham has such an incredibly rich postwar heritage, almost greater than any other city in the UK, and so much of it has been lost and is continuing to be lost,” said Oli Marshall, the society’s campaigns manager.
“The mood in the country is changing against demolition and against this disposable building culture, and we need to be repurposing what we already have. It is completely at odds with the council’s commitment to go zero-carbon by 2030.”
Built in 1962, the Ringway Centre’s 230-metre elevation curves along Smallbrook Queensway and houses four storeys of office space above a sheltered shopping parade, although parts of the building have become derelict in recent years.
Situated on the south side of the city at the entrance to the Chinese Quarter, it is also home to the famous nightclub Snobs, which reports earlier in the year said would have to find a new venue if the building was demolished.
It was designed by James Roberts, the man behind Birmingham’s famous Rotunda tower, which is Grade II-listed, and has been cited as a prime example of “carchitecture” in the former motor city – it is shaped by the roads around it and was designed to be seen by cars whizzing past.
Councillors voted a narrow seven to six in favour of replacing it with three glass tower blocks, 44, 48 and 56 storeys high, containing 1,750 apartments and 7,100 sq metres of commercial and leisure space, and three new public spaces.
Jeffrey Yap, joint chair of the Birmingham Chinese festival committee, argued in favour of the demolition during the meeting, saying: “When I see the Ringway Centre I see a symbol of Birmingham, which was a car-dominated city. We no longer want this. In 2023, the city will be very different.
“My community is embracing this vision for Birmingham and we want to see the concrete barrier between the city centre taken down.”
James Shimwell, from the developer Commercial Estates Group, said: “Today’s decision enables significant investment into Birmingham. It will deliver 1,750 much-needed new homes on the city’s best-connected brownfield site.
“Our proposals will transform the gateway to Southside – creating safer public places and drastically improving the connectivity with pedestrian links between New Street station, Digbeth and Smithfield. New public spaces will revitalise the area, attracting new visitors and boosting local businesses.”
Brutiful Birmingham, an action group formed to save the city’s postwar architecture after the central library was torn down in 2016, have described the building as “a symbol of the Birmingham we are all so proud of”.
Speaking outside the council house after the decision, campaigner Mary Keating said: “We are very disappointed. People’s personal dislike of concrete outweighed national heritage bodies saying this building is important.”
She said the proposed development would “place a huge carbon bomb in the middle of the city”, adding: “The fight is not over, we’re looking at ways we can question this decision.”
