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Birmingham Central Library

Coordinates: 52°28′49.07″N 1°54′17.17″W / 52.4802972°N 1.9047694°W / 52.4802972; -1.9047694
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Birmingham Central Library
Map
General information
TypeLibrary
Architectural styleBrutalist
LocationChamberlain Square, Birmingham, England
Coordinates52°28′49.07″N 1°54′17.17″W / 52.4802972°N 1.9047694°W / 52.4802972; -1.9047694
Construction startedApril 1969
CompletedDecember 1973
Opening12 January 1974
Closed29 June 2013
Demolished2014 (Planned)
Cost4.7 million Pound sterling
OwnerBirmingham City Council
Height22.6 metres (74 ft)
Technical details
Floor count8
Design and construction
Architect(s)John Madin
Architecture firmJohn Madin Design Group
Structural engineerOve Arup & Partners
Services engineerR.W. Gregory & Partners
Quantity surveyorL.C. Wakeman & Partners
Main contractorSir Robert McAlpine

Birmingham Central Library was the main public library in Birmingham, England from 1974 until 2013. For a time the largest non-national library in Europe,[1] it closed on 29 June 2013 and was replaced with the Library of Birmingham. The existing building is due to be demolished in 2014 as part of the redevelopment of Paradise Circus by Argent Group.

Designed by architect, John Madin in the brutalist style, the library was part of an ambitious development project by Birmingham City Council to create a civic centre around its new Inner Ring Road system; however due to economic reasons significant parts of the masterplan were not completed and quality was reduced on materials as an economic measure. Two previous libraries occupied the adjacent site before Madin’s library opened in 1974. The previous library was opened in 1883 and was designed by John Henry Chamberlain featuring a tall clerestoried reading room, this was demolished in 1974 after the new library had opened.

Despite the original vision not being fully implemented the library has gained architectural praise as an icon of British Brutalism with its stark use of concrete, bold geometry, inverted ziggurat sculptural form and monumental scale. Its style was seen at the time as a symbol of social progressivism.[2] Based on this, English Heritage applied and failed twice for the building to gain listed status. However, due to strong opposition from Birmingham City Council the building gained immunity from listing until 2016.[3][4]

In 2010–11 Central Library was the second most visited library in the country with 1,197,350 visitors.[5]

Earlier libraries

File:Brimingham Central Library fire jan1879.jpg
Central Library after the 1879 fire
J. H. Chamberlain's rebuilt Central Library of 1882, demolished in 1974.

The first Central Library occupied a site to the south of Edmund Street and west of the Town Hall. The site had been acquired from the Birmingham and Midland Institute (BMI) in 1860 after the construction of their own building in 1857 on the corner of Paradise Street and Ratcliff Place.[6] The BMI building was to include a library, but under the Public Libraries Act 1850 a referendum took place on the creation of a municipal library. After the first vote failed, a second one passed in 1860 causing the BMI and the Corporation to cooperate on the joint site.

E. M. Barry was the architect for the BMI building and it was hoped he could be retained as the architect for the adjoining library, however his plans were deemed too expensive for the Corporation.[6] Martin & Chamberlain's plans were approved in October 1862 for a tender price of £8,600 with E. M. Barry's classical facade retained in the design.[6] The Lending Library was opened on 6 September 1865 and the Reference Library was opened just over a year later on 26 October 1866. Initial use of the library was so heavy that the need for an extension was agreed in 1872 but deferred until 1878.[6] On 11 January 1879 a fire broke out behind a wooden partition serving as a temporary wall during building operations.[6] The fire caused extensive damage with only 1,000 volumes saved from a stock of 50,000.[6]

Plans to rebuild the library after the fire had been approved as early as May 1879. The library was rebuilt on the same site by J. H. Chamberlain in a Lombardic Renaissance style with a tall clerestoried Reading Room.[7] At a cost of £54,975 the second Central Library opened on 1 June 1882.[6]

As the number of books increased, the Council resolved in 1938 that a new library was 'an urgent necessity', but due to World War II it was not until 1960, and the development of a new Inner Ring Road through the site of the old library that a general specification was agreed.[7] The library and the BMI building were demolished (The BMI moved to premises a block to the east) and the site is now part of the Birmingham Conservatoire and its gardens. The site where the current central library is now situated was originally occupied by Mason Science College and Liberal Club.

Architecture

The library under construction in 1973.

The building of the (now former) Central Library was opened on 12 January 1974, and was designed by John Madin, a Birmingham-based architect.[8] Its inverted ziggurat form is a powerful example of the Brutalist style. With the Rotunda and the Alpha Tower, it is one of Birmingham's key Modernist buildings.

Madin designed the Central Library as part of a large civic centre scheme on the newly created Paradise Circus site. Originally planned to be built alongside the library was a School of Music, Drama Centre, Athletic Institute, offices, shops, public house, a car park with 500 spaces and a bus interchange.[9] The collection of civic buildings were all to be connected by high level walkways and the network of galleries which bridge the roads. The School of Music and a public house (The Yardbird) were the only other buildings in the original plans to be built and the high level walkways were never completed.[10]

One of the reading rooms in the Reference Library

The Central Library consisted of two elements, the extrovert lending library and the introvert reference library.[7] The lending library was designed for heavy use and short visits forms a wing to the reference library and is of three storeys with a curved façade facing the Town Hall.[10][11] The reference library is an eight storey square block designed around an open atrium above a public square that was designed to be entered from four sides.[10] Above the square float the cantilevered floors of the library in a distinctive inverted ziggurat formation.[10] The designers drew inspiration for the design from Antonio Sant'Elia's drawings of Casa a gradinata and Marcel Breuer’s 1928 scheme for a hospital at Elberfeld, Indiana, another source of inspiration was Leslie Martin’s Bodleian Law Library in Oxford.[10] It is noted that drew inspiration from the similar design for Boston City Hall although a member of Madin’s design team said they had only seen this design after the library was complete.[10]

The central atrium is completely glazed behind deep concrete balconies, this arrangement was to make it conducive to study although there was good natural light the design was an early recognition of solar gain and the damage it can cause to books.[10] The large windows of the reference library face inwards to reduce traffic noise from the Inner Ring road.[11] On the outside the windows are high level narrow strips with black anodised window frames.[10][11] The space below the central atrium of the library was designed to define a civic square with gardens, pools, waterfalls and fountains and to potentially form an open air exhibition space.[12] Six pools were to be placed in and around this square of these one can still be seen on the north side of the library.[11] Madin also designed the semi-circular amphitheatre around the Chamberlain Memorial in Chamberlain Square to frame the entrance to the library and the new civic square.[10]

The library from Chamberlain Square

The structure is supported on a square set of twelve reinforced concrete columns, built over the Inner Ring road and the uncompleted bus interchange.[10] The bus bays imposed a 36 ft pier spacing on the main block, and led to the standardization of a 1 ft 6in module for the design.[7] Concrete is strongly expressed within the building, the external finishes to structural elements are unclad reinforced concrete. The walls have been ribbed and the locally graded round aggregate is exposed by abrasive blasting.[7][11] The floors are made of precast concrete coffered units over which a reinforced concrete floor was cast.[11] For the cladding Madin offered the council a choice of Portland Stone or Travertine Marble to align with the adjacent civic buildings. A third cheaper option was pre-cast concrete with Hoptonwood limestone and Derbyshire spar aggregate with white cement offered by Alan Maudsley the City Architect and accepted by the council as an economic measure.[7][10]

The central atrium showing one of the six pools; this area later became Paradise Forum

The entrance hall is a long tall space. The entrance hall is double height between the lending and reference libraries which is entirely glazed on the side facing the atrium and an early example of a freestanding wall made of toughened glass.[10] Before later developments the wall allowed the entrance to be flooded with light and provided views of the Town Hall from the escalators.[10]

The library aimed to provide open access to all 900,000 of its volumes. No basement was possible because of the low level roads beneath the library and a tall book stack was deemed inappropriate because of the desire to keep the height of the building low, so it did not overwhelm the surrounding buildings.[11] Storage of the volumes is on the same level as the reading areas, this dual purpose led to the low ceiling height of three metres.[10] Space was opened up in the reference library by opening up sections of the floors into double height reading spaces. The furniture for the library was specified by the architects with the preference for oak veneer book stacks and black linoleum floor covering.[11]

When built central library provided approximately 250,000sq ft of floor space which made it the largest non-national municipal library in Europe.[11] It was specifically designed for a long life and to stand hard wear and low maintenance costs.[11]

Later Developments

The curved facade of the Lending Library, circa 1975

The council failed to implement the original plan for Paradise Circus. Spending cuts led to the council's decision to sell off the land surrounding the library which ended the vision of a publicly financed and owned civic centre occupying the entire site.[10]

The 200 seat Library Theatre was built between the School of Music and the reference library block in 1983-86. The theatre was a design and build scheme by Henry Boot Projects.[10] Although the design was in Madin’s original plans Madin did not approve of the design and build method and subsequently had no involvement in the building.[10] Chamberlain House and the Copthorne Hotel were built to the west of the library in 1985-7 by Leonard J. Multon & Partners with wedge shaped ends.[7] In an October 1988 television documentary A Vision of Britain, Prince Charles attacked the building saying it looked like "a place where books are incinerated, not kept".[13]

To the north of the library where an Athletic Institute was originally to be built a six storey office block was built in 1988-9 by Leonard J. Multon & Partners.[7] A footbridge connecting the library with Centenary Square was added as part of improvements to the square in 1988-89. The atrium was enclosed with a glass roof and screens by the City Architect’s Department in 1989-91.[7] The space below was named Paradise Forum, originally proposed as an alfresco eating and entertainment area eventually leased to property companies who sublet the units to shops and fast food outlet tenants. The uncompleted bus interchange became service areas for the tenants of Paradise Forum. In 1999 the whole of Paradise Forum was sold off to Argent Group.

In 1999, a member of the public was almost hit by a small piece of concrete that fell from a cladding panel.[12] Concerns over the condition of the pre-cast cladding panels required the installation of netting to retain any further erosion.[12] The entrance from Chamberlain Square was altered by the city’s Urban Design team in 2001 creating a lobby and eliminating the effect of the original tall entrance hall.[7] In July 2010, the east side of the lending library was decorated by painted birds, the work of Lucy Mclauchlan.

The appearance of the library building has also been criticised, mostly due to the staining of the cladding panels which were originally white and were never cleaned. In October 2011 the World Monuments Fund included Central Library on its watch list of significant buildings at risk.[14]

Future

Library of Birmingham

Main article: Library of Birmingham

The Library of Birmingham is a new library complex in the city of Birmingham, England, in nearby Centenary Square. It replaced the Central Library. It is estimated the new library cost £193 million and is seen by Birmingham City Council as a flagship project for the Redevelopment of Birmingham.

Existing building

Argent Group acquired the Paradise Circus site including Birmigham Central Library in 1998.[15]A plan was produced, in conjunction with Birmingham City Council and Birmingham City University, to create a mixed use scheme for the site. In response to potential demolition English Heritage applied on two occasions for the building to be listed. On the two occasions the library was refused status as a listed building after lobbying from Birmingham City Council. In February 2011 the library received a 5 year Certificate of Immunity from Listing[16] after an application from Birmingham City Council, which means it cannot be protected from demolition until 2016.[17] After closure of the remaining facilities in Central Library holes were cut in the upper walls to allow the remaining books to be removed by hydraulic cranes, which removed the stock in large crates. All electrical power in the building was switched off on the opening day of the new library. Central Library will be demolished as part of the redevelopment of Paradise Circus by Argent Group.

References

  1. ^ "Preston bus station on UK monument 'at risk' list". BBC News. BBC. 2011-10-05. Retrieved 2011-11-05.; "Birmingham Central Library". English Heritage. 2009-11-23. Retrieved 2011-11-05.
  2. ^ British Brutalism - World Monuments Fund, September 2012
  3. ^ Birmingham Central Library, English Heritage, 23 November 2009
  4. ^ Immunity from Listing, Birmingham City Council, 2011
  5. ^ Latest Public Library Statistics Released, CIPFA, October 2011
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Notes on the history of Birmingham Public Libraries (1861-1961), Birmingham, 1962
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Foster, Andy (2005), Birmingham, Yale University Press, p. 77, ISBN 0-300-10731-5
  8. ^ Merlin Fulcher "Obituary: John Madin (1924-2012)", AJ Mobile (Architect's Journal), 11 January 2012
  9. ^ John H D Madin & Partners (1966), Civic Centre redevelopment - Paradise Circus, report on Central Library scheme design, prepared by John H.D. Madin and Partners in association with J.A. Maudsley, Birmingham
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Clawley, Alan (2011), John Madin (20th century architect), RIBA Publishing, ISBN 978-1-85946-367-3
  11. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Birmingham Public Libraries (1973), Design Team Report, Birmingham
  12. ^ a b c An appreciation of the Central Library a 20th entry Icon (PDF), www.thestirrer.co.uk
  13. ^ Alastair Jamieson "The Prince of Wales on architecture: his 10 'monstrous carbuncles'", telegraph.co.uk, 13 May 2009
  14. ^ http://www.wmf.org/project/british-brutalism
  15. ^ Argent website
  16. ^ Historic England. "Certificate of Immunity Summary (expiry 10 January 2016 ) (1408223)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 10 September 2013.
  17. ^ "Birmingham Central Library to be demolished". Express and Star.

Further reading

  • Joe Holyoak (1989). All About Victoria Square: an historic perambulation of the civic and cultural heart of Birmingham. Birmingham: Victorian Society, Birmingham Group. ISBN 0-901657-14-X.
  • Stuart Davies (1985). By the Gains of Industry - Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery 1885-1985. Birmingham: Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery. ISBN 0-7093-0131-6.
  • Rachel E. Waterhouse (1954). The Birmingham and Midland Institute 1854-1954. Birmingham: Council of the Birmingham and Midland Institute.
  • "Paradise Circus; Architects: John Madin Design Group, Birmingham Metropolitan District Council: Architects Department", in: Architects' Journal; vol. 9, no. 2, 1974 June, p. 8-20.
  • "Birmingham Central Library; Architects: John Madin Design Group", in: Architects' Journal; vol. 159, no. 21, 22 May 1974, p. 1137-1157.
  • "Birmingham Central Libraries; Architects: John Madin Design Group", in: Interior Design; 1974 May, p. 292-295.
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