By Chris Guy posted on 18 Dec 2025 in Urban

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.

Black-and-white upward view of a brutalist concrete-and-glass building with stacked cantilevered floors and large paneled windows, shot from street level against a cloudy sky.

Cantilever on show at the Muirhead Tower

Black-and-white close-up of a textured concrete wall with a central vertical beam, two visible bolt heads and angular shadowed ledges forming a stark, symmetrical geometric composition.

Concrete detail, the Ashley Building

Black-and-white photo of a curved, multi-story concrete building with repeating angular window bays; low shrubs and flowering bushes fill the foreground beneath a clear sky.

Exterior of the Ashley Building

Black-and-white photo of an empty modern library with tables and chairs silhouetted against large floor-to-ceiling windows. Sunlight streams in, casting shadows on a checkered floor; a circular sign hangs in the glass, city buildings outside.

The Cadbury Research Library in the Muirhead Tower

Black-and-white photo of a mid-century multi-story office building with glass-and-metal facades and a central light vertical core. Curved walkway, trees and landscaped lawns sit in the foreground; steps and railings lead up toward the entrance.

The Muirhead Tower

Black-and-white photo of a mid-century multi-story office complex with glass-and-concrete facades and vertical columns, framed by bare tree branches, with trees, a small fountain and tall grasses in the foreground.

Rear of the Muirhead Tower

Black-and-white photo looking up into a circular dome or skylight: concentric rings and radial ribs form a geometric, industrial pattern with surrounding windows and stair-like elements.

Celing and staircase detail, inside the Ashley Building

Black-and-white photo of a circular, Brutalist concrete office building with rows of rectangular windows, set among shrubs and trees; a walkway and a signpost are visible in the foreground.

Ashley Building rotunda

Black-and-white image of Brutalist campus architecture: long, curved concrete blocks and a circular tower in the distance, a lone person walking along a path, trees and brooding clouds; the photographer’s shadow stretches across the foreground.

The Strathcona Building

Black-and-white photo of a modern multi-story building with a vertical louvered façade; a brick-lined stairway climbs through landscaped shrubs toward the entrance.

Steps to the Muirhead Building

Black-and-white photo of a group of older adults gathered outdoors on a sunny day, talking and pointing near a tree-lined sidewalk with a modern apartment building in the background.
Black-and-white photo of a modernist multi-story office building with large glass windows; a man in a suit walks away across a paved courtyard.

On route to the Mining and Metallurgy Building

Black-and-white photo of a multi-story concrete office building with a repetitive grid of windows and raised ground level, shot from a low angle beneath a partly cloudy sky.

The Mining and Metallurgy Building

Black-and-white photo of a five-story Brutalist concrete building with repeating rectangular windows, small trees and a grassy lawn in front, set beneath a partly cloudy sky.

The Ashley Building

Black-and-white photo of a tiered mid-century brick office building with stacked horizontal bands of windows, a low brick wall and shrubs in the foreground beneath a partly cloudy sky.

The School of Education

Black-and-white photo of a multi-story brick building with stacked horizontal bands of windows, a recessed ground-floor entrance framed by low shrubs, and an empty street with double yellow lines curving past the foreground.

The School of Education

Black-and-white photo of a concrete mid-century block with stacked rectangular windows. Sunlight gleams on one pane; a small tree and grassy lawn cast long shadows in the foreground.

The Ashley Building

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black and white brutalist film

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