Council House, Birmingham

The Council House stands in Victoria Square, at the heart of Birmingham’s city centre. It is a grade II* listed building that houses the offices of Birmingham City Council, including the council chamber, Lord Mayor’s Suite and committee rooms. The first-floor balcony is used by visiting dignitaries and sports teams to address crowds below. The building shares its structure with Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, whose entrance and façade face Chamberlain Square. It occupies land once home to the ‘Cabinet of Curiosities’, a 19th-century shop advertised as an exhibition for curious observers. The clock tower at the top, known locally as ‘Big Brum’, was added after the original design by Yeoville Thomason. The Council House is worth the journey for its architectural importance and civic role. Its construction began in 1874 after a design competition that received only 29 entries, far fewer than expected. The building cost £163,000 to complete in 1879, a sum debated at the time. The mosaic above the main entrance, by Salviati Burke and Co. of Venice, shows Britannia receiving Birmingham’s manufacturers. The building was extended twice, first in 1881–85 to include an art gallery and museum, and again in 1911–19 with a new block connected by an ornate archway. It has also appeared in films, doubling as a hotel lobby in works by Cliff Richard and Stephen Poliakoff. Inside, visitors find the council chamber, banqueting suite with minstrel’s gallery, and the Feeney Art Galleries. The building contains many memorials, including one to Belgian exiles who stayed in Birmingham during the First World War. A blue plaque honours five generations of the Martineau family who served as Lord Mayors. The corridors and glass passageways have been used in film productions. Outside, Victoria Square once held Christ Church, demolished in 1899, and the square was lit up in 1902 for the coronation of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra.