Birmingham School of Jewellery, founded in 1890, is a jewellery school in Birmingham, England. Located on Vittoria Street in the city's Jewellery Quarter, it is the largest jewellery school in Europe. It is part of the Arts, Design and Media Faculty (ADM), a faculty of Birmingham City University. Its portfolio of courses includes jewellery, silversmithing, horology, and gemmology. The School also houses the Jewellery Industry Innovation Centre (JIIC), which offers professional expertise in industry-related techniques including

Computer Aided Design Computer-aided design (CAD) is the use of computers (or ) to aid in the creation, modification, analysis, or optimization of a design. This software is used to increase the productivity of the designer, improve the quality of design, improve co ...

(CAD),

rapid prototyping Rapid prototyping is a group of techniques used to quickly fabricate a scale model of a physical part or assembly using three-dimensional computer aided design (CAD) data. Construction of the part or assembly is usually done using 3D printin ...

and

surface finishing Surface finishing is a broad range of industrial processes that alter the surface of a manufactured item to achieve a certain property. Finishing processes may be employed to: improve appearance, adhesion or wettability, solderability, corrosion re ...

History

By the mid-19th century, the jewellery trade was considered the most lucrative in Birmingham with jewellers being some of the best paid workers in the city. There were also more people employed in the trade than any other in the city. Apprentices generally did not require any qualifications but style became a study within the industry and one jeweller's firm required all apprentices to attend the

Birmingham School of Art The Birmingham School of Art was a municipal art school based in the centre of Birmingham, England. Although the organisation was absorbed by Birmingham Polytechnic in 1971 and is now part of Birmingham City University's Faculty of Arts, Design a ...

. The Birmingham School of Jewellery and Silversmithing was established in 1890 as a branch of the School of Art when Martin & Chamberlain converted a goldsmith's factory, built in 1865 to a design by J. G. Bland. The top storey was added in 1906 by Cossins, Peacock & Bewlay who also designed the south extension in 1911. The school was acquired by Birmingham Polytechnic (now Birmingham City University) in 1989, along with an adjoining site. The university commissioned Associated Architects who designed a further south extension which was constructed between 1992 and 1993. They also redesigned much of the interior, creating a full-height atrium with gallery access to workshops. The reception area can also be used as exhibition space. The building itself consists of a

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- Gothic front, whilst the 1911 extension is of red brick mottled with blue. The project won the 1995 RIBA Architecture Award and the 1996 Civic Trust Award.

References

External links

Official website

BCU website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Birmingham School Of Jewellery 1890 establishments in England Jewellery Education in Birmingham, West Midlands Educational institutions established in 1890 Jewellery industry in the United Kingdom Recipients of Civic Trust Awards