University of Birmingham

Brutalism in Birmingham

On a Friday in early September 2025, I joined a very enjoyable tour led by architect and urban designer Joe Holyoak for The Twentieth Century Society entitled Outstanding mid-20th Century Buildings at the University of Birmingham.

The tour took in four buildings on the campus designed by two architectural practices:

• The Ashley Building (1961-64) by Howell Killick Partridge and Amis
• The Strathcona Building (1961-64) by Howell Killick Partridge and Amis
• The Muirhead Tower (1968-69) by Arup Associates
• The Mining and Metallurgy Building (1964) by Arup Associates

It was interesting to see how these buildings had been refurbished over time, mostly sympathetically and in the spirt of the original designs. In the spirt of the era, all of these pictures were taken on a Nikon FE2 35mm camera with Ilford Delta 400 film. Finally, there are a couple of shots of The School of Education building (Casson, Conder and Partners, 1966-67) which was not part of our official tour.