Centenary Square is a public square on the north side of
Broad Street in
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...
, England, named in 1989 to commemorate the centenary of Birmingham achieving
city status City status is a symbolic and legal designation given by a national or subnational government. A municipality may receive city status because it already has the qualities of a city, or because it has some special purpose.
Historically, city status ...
. The area was an industrial area of small workshops and canal wharves before it was purchased by the council in the 1920s for the creation of a grand civic centre scheme to include museums, council offices, cathedral and opera house. The scheme was abandoned after the arrival of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
with only the
Hall of Memory and half of the planned
Baskerville House complete. After the war the scheme was revived in a simpler form however the council never managed to implement the design.
In 1991 the square was redesigned to complement the new
International Convention Centre with new paving, railings and lamps designed by artist
Tess Jaray
Tess Jaray (born 31 December 1937) is a British painter and printmaker. She taught at The Slade School of Fine Art, UCL from 1968 until 1999. Over the last twenty years Jaray has completed a succession of major public art projects. She was made ...
, a fountain and several sculptures. During the construction and opening of the
Library of Birmingham on the square in 2013 several of the elements of the 1991 design were removed and a library amphitheatre was built into the square. In 2014 a design competition was held to redesign the square. Construction of the redesigned square began in 2017 and was largely complete in 2019.
The square is used as a staging area for many of the city's main cultural events including the
Frankfurt Christmas Market, Arts Festivals, Remembrance Day Services, New Year's Celebrations and during Christmas hosts a temporary
ice rink
An ice rink (or ice skating rink) is a frozen body of water and/or an artificial sheet of ice created using hardened chemicals where people can ice skate or play winter sports. Ice rinks are also used for exhibitions, contests and ice shows. The ...
and
Ferris wheel
A Ferris wheel (also called a Giant Wheel or an observation wheel) is an amusement ride consisting of a rotating upright wheel with multiple passenger-carrying components (commonly referred to as passenger cars, cabins, tubs, gondolas, capsule ...
.
History of the site
Early history
The area where Centenary Square is today was an area of high density housing in the late 18th century. In 1745
John Baskerville built his own home, Easy Hill House in the general area of where now stands
Baskerville House. The property comprised a house and outbuildings with formal gardens surrounding it. When John Baskerville died in 1775 he was buried within the grounds of his house. The house passed into the hands of
John Ryland in 1788 and in 1791 when it was sacked and burned down by a riotous mob during the
Priestley Riots. The house was demolished soon after it was ransacked.
![Concept Civic Centre Birmingham 1918](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/70/Concept_Civic_Centre_Birmingham_1918.jpg)
An iron merchant named Gibson purchased the land in 1821 and cut a canal arm through the site in order to increase his mill business on Cambridge Street. The canal was completed in 1825 which in turn encouraged the expansion of other businesses and other canal arms were cut into what is now Centenary Square and the area became one of high density industrial buildings. Baskerville Wharf was cut into the area where the
Hall of Memory now stands.
Civic Centre proposals
![Centenary Square 1932](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9d/Centenary_Square_1932.jpg)
In 1918,
William Haywood published the book ''The Development of Birmingham'' within which he proposed a scheme to create a grand civic centre west of
Victoria Square. The original concept had provision for a cathedral, two exhibition halls, Natural History Museum, War Museum and memorial, Opera House, new post office and formal gardens. The area was cleared by the council in the 1920s to form the open space of what is now Centenary Square. The first building to be completed was the
Hall of Memory and its associated colonnade in 1925, to facilitate this the southern arm of Baskerville Wharf was infilled. In 1926 a competition assessed by
Henry Vaughan Lanchester
Henry Vaughan Lanchester (9 August 1863 – 16 January 1953) was a British architect working in London. He served as editor of '' The Builder'', was a co-founder of the Town Planning Institute and a recipient of the Royal Gold Medal.
Biography ...
was won by Maximilian Romanoff of Paris, but his scheme was judged too expensive and a basic plan was made by
S. N. Cooke
Samuel Nathaniel Cooke Jr. (26 June 1882 – 11 April 1964) was an English architect active in Birmingham, England in the early to mid 20th century. He was almost invariably credited as S. N. Cooke and his later work was carried out under the aus ...
, A.J. Swann and the City Engineer Hubert Humphries. In 1936 after Winfields Rolling Mill ceased operations the Gibsons Arm could be infilled paving way for the construction of
Baskerville House which was completed in 1938–40. The Second World War halted any further development of the Civic Centre and it remained unbuilt.
Post War development
In 1940-41 William Haywood produced another design for the civic centre, centred on a 42 metre high column topped by a 10 ft statue representing the Spirit of Birmingham. The incomplete Baskerville House would form the east wing of a U-shaped court. The council adopted the design in 1944 and
William Bloye
William James Bloye (8 July 1890 – 6 June 1975) was an English sculptor, active in Birmingham either side of World War II.
Life
Bloye studied, and later, taught at the Birmingham School of Art (his training was interrupted by World War ...
produced a maquette on the statue in 1948, but the next year it was abandoned as too expensive. In 1958,
Alwyn Sheppard Fidler produced a less formal layout with water features and a line of residential towers linked by a municipal office podium on the north side. The Crescent Wharf tower blocks north of Cambridge Street by the City Architect,
Alan Maudsley, in 1968 are a much modified version of its proposed towers.
Bingley Hall which stood at the western end of the square was damaged by fire in 1984. The city council used this as an opportunity to develop the western end of the square into the
International Convention Centre and
Birmingham Symphony Hall
Symphony Hall is a 2,262 seat concert venue in Birmingham, England. It was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 12 June 1991, although it had been in use since 15 April 1991. It is home to the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and hos ...
, which opened in 1991 and 1992 respectively.
Centenary Square
To complement the
International Convention Centre and
Symphony Hall the square was redeveloped in 1989 and renamed Centenary Square to commemorate 100 year since Birmingham attained city status. The £3.5 million construction of Centenary Way, a bridge across the Inner Ring Road linking Paradise Circus to Centenary Square was essential in creating an uninterrupted pedestrian route with the city centre, pedestrians previously had to cross beneath the road in an underground subway. The colonnade at the western end of the square was relocated to
St. Thomas' Peace Garden. Artist
Tess Jaray
Tess Jaray (born 31 December 1937) is a British painter and printmaker. She taught at The Slade School of Fine Art, UCL from 1968 until 1999. Over the last twenty years Jaray has completed a succession of major public art projects. She was made ...
designed the railings, street furniture and paving for the square which included 525,000 pavers to be laid out in the design of a Persian Rug.
Jaray was assisted by Tom Lomax.
It had originally been planned for Jaray to design paving for the interior of the convention centre.
Lomax designed the ''Spirit of Enterprise'' fountain which stood in the centre of the square,
David Patten
David Patten (August 19, 1974 – September 2, 2021) was an American professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL). He was signed by the Albany Firebirds of the Arena Football League as a street fr ...
designed ''Industry and Genius'' an artwork dedicated to
John Baskerville, located outside
Baskerville House.
As the centrepiece to the square was ''Forward'' an artwork named after the city motto, designed by
Raymond Mason the sculpture stood on a podium centrally within the square. The square officially opened in 1991.
As part of the millennium celebrations a beacon named the ''Flame of Hope'' was erected between The Rep and Baskerville House. Cliff Richard lit the flame during the inaugural ceremony; however funding problems led to the "perpetual" flame being regularly turned off and it was removed for the construction of the
Library of Birmingham. The ''Forward'' statue was removed after being destroyed by arson on 17 April 2003. A
statue of King Edward VII by
Albert Toft
Albert Toft (3 June 1862 – 18 December 1949) was a British sculptor.
Toft's career was dominated by public commemorative commissions in bronze, mostly single statues of military or royal figures. The Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria in ...
was relocated from
Highgate Park to the square in November 2010 where it now stands outside Baskerville House.
During the construction of the
Library of Birmingham in 2010–13, the ''Spirit of Enterprise'' fountain was removed to storage permanently at the Museum's Collection Centre. In the place where the fountain once stood an amphitheatre was created as part of the library which is accessed through the library. In the newly created lawns outside the library the statue ''
A Real Birmingham Family'' was unveiled in 2014 designed by
Gillian Wearing
Gillian Wearing CBE, RA (born 10 December 1963) is an English conceptual artist, one of the Young British Artists, and winner of the 1997 Turner Prize. In 2007 Wearing was elected as lifetime member of the Royal Academy of Arts in London. He ...
.
Redesign
An international design competition was held through the
RIBA
The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is a professional body for architects primarily in the United Kingdom, but also internationally, founded for the advancement of architecture under its royal charter granted in 1837, three supp ...
and the
Landscape Institute on behalf of
Birmingham City Council
Birmingham City Council is the local government body responsible for the governance of the City of Birmingham in England, which has been a metropolitan district since 1974. It is the most populated local council area in the United Kingdom ...
in October 2014 to find a design to transform the square. Funding for the competition and development of the square has come from the
GBSLEP.
£5 million for construction costs has been allocated for the scheme with extra funding for design fees. Project Management and Quantity Surveying will be provided by Acivico Ltd and the contractor will be procured through the Constructing West Midlands (CWM) Framework agreement. In stage two, five shortlisted designs will be given a £5,000
honorarium An honorarium is an ''ex gratia'' payment, i.e., a payment made, without the giver recognizing themselves as having any liability or legal obligation, to a person for his or her services in a volunteer capacity or for services for which fees are no ...
to develop and present their designs to a judging panel and public consultation.
On 13 January 2015 five shortlisted proposals were chosen from 185 entries, these were from
Atkins Atkins may refer to:
Places in the United States
* Atkins, Arkansas, a city
* Atkins, Iowa, a city
* Atkins, Louisiana, an unincorporated community
* Atkins, Nebraska, an unincorporated community
* Atkins, Virginia, a census-designated place
* ...
, Barton Willmore,
Broadway Malyan
Broadway Malyan is a global architecture, urbanism and design practice. It was established in 1958 by architects Cyril Broadway anJohn Malyan
Among its incorporated businesses globally, it owns or is closely associated with the English incorpora ...
, Graeme Massie Architects and Open Studio. The overall winner, Graeme Massie Architects, was announced in June 2015. Construction work on the winning scheme commenced in April 2017, with a planned completion date of late 2018.
Due to the recent terror attacks in Europe new security features are to be incorporated into the design of the square. These features have resulted in the chopping down of a mature 90 year old London Plane tree sited on the edge of the square and Broad Street. A campaign was launched by local supporters of the tree to save it. However the city council insisted it had to go to ensure the security arrangements for the square and the introduction of the metro line to Broad Street could both go ahead. The tree was chopped down in February 2017. on 27 July 2019, The square will be part of the Commonwealth Social festival to mark three years to go for the
2022 Commonwealth Games
The 2022 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Birmingham 2022, was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth of Nations that took place in Birmingham, England bet ...
in Birmingham, include the launch of the official emblem.
Surrounding buildings
The square is bounded to the north by
Birmingham Repertory Theatre
Birmingham Repertory Theatre, commonly called Birmingham Rep or just The Rep, is a producing theatre based on Centenary Square in Birmingham, England. Founded by Barry Jackson, it is the longest-established of Britain's building-based theatre ...
(1971),
Library of Birmingham (2013) and
Baskerville House (1938). The western edge of the square is defined by the
International Convention Centre (1991),
Symphony Hall (1992) and
Hyatt Hotel
Hyatt Hotels Corporation, commonly known as Hyatt Hotels & Resorts, is an American multinational hospitality company headquartered in the Riverside Plaza area of Chicago that manages and franchises luxury and business hotels, resorts, and vacat ...
(1990). To the south of the square is
Broad Street beyond which are the
Birmingham Municipal Bank headquarters (1933),
One Centenary Square (2018) and
Alpha Tower
Alpha Tower is a Grade II listed office skyscraper in Birmingham, England. It was designed by the Birmingham-born architect George Marsh of Richard Seifert & Partners as the headquarters of the commercial television company ATV (Associated T ...
(1972). The southern side of the square is earmarked for redevelopment as part of the Arena Central scheme. To the east across Centenary Way is the
Copthorne Hotel (1987) and One Centenary Way, currently under construction as part of the
Paradise
In religion, paradise is a place of exceptional happiness and delight. Paradisiacal notions are often laden with pastoral imagery, and may be cosmogonical or eschatological or both, often compared to the miseries of human civilization: in parad ...
development.
Art and memorials
All sculptures commissioned for the square in 1989-1991 were paid for by the "Per Cent For Arts" scheme which only pays toward building costs if public sculpture forms at least 1% of the entire building project.
Current
*
Boulton, Watt and Murdoch – Unveiled on 14 September 1956, the statue was designed by
William Bloye
William James Bloye (8 July 1890 – 6 June 1975) was an English sculptor, active in Birmingham either side of World War II.
Life
Bloye studied, and later, taught at the Birmingham School of Art (his training was interrupted by World War ...
at a cost of £15,500. The 4.65m high statue depicting the three men discussing engine plans is sculpted in bronze with a
gold leaf finish on a plinth of
Portland stone. The statue is located on the south side of
Broad Street outside the House of Sport, this location was meant to be temporary as it was originally intended to stand outside a planetarium as part of the Civic Centre but this was never built.
*Industry and Genius – Unveiled in 1990 by artist David Patten as a monument to
John Baskerville, eight 1.5m high free standing blocks sculpted from Portland stone with bronze letters embossed on each. The letters spell the word "
Virgil
Publius Vergilius Maro (; traditional dates 15 October 7021 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He composed three of the most famous poems in Latin literature: th ...
" the poet whose work was translated by Baskerville in 1757. Funded by the Public Arts Commissions Agency as part of the Centenary Square scheme. The sculpture is located outside the portico of Baskerville House.
*
Hall of Memory
* 1914
statue of King Edward VII by
Albert Toft
Albert Toft (3 June 1862 – 18 December 1949) was a British sculptor.
Toft's career was dominated by public commemorative commissions in bronze, mostly single statues of military or royal figures. The Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria in ...
, moved to the square in November 2010.
Former
* ''Forward'', a sculpture by
Raymond Mason which was unveiled in 1991. It cost £275,000. It was destroyed by arson on 17 April 2003. It was locally known as the "
Lurpak
Lurpak is a Danish brand of butter owned by Arla Foods. It is sold in over 75 countries worldwide, and is known for its distinctive silver packaging. Lurpak came into existence in October 1901 after a combination of several Danish dairy farmers d ...
sculpture".]
* In 2005 a
Ferris wheel
A Ferris wheel (also called a Giant Wheel or an observation wheel) is an amusement ride consisting of a rotating upright wheel with multiple passenger-carrying components (commonly referred to as passenger cars, cabins, tubs, gondolas, capsule ...
known locally as the
Birmingham Wheel was constructed in the square to provide views for the public. The wheel finally closed on 5 September 2006 and was sold to a company in Australia.
* ''Spirit of Enterprise'' (fountain, designed by Tom Lomax) This fountain is currently removed.
Transport
Bus services stop frequently at the square, and in December 2019, the
West Midlands Metro
The West Midlands Metro (originally named Midland Metro) is a light-rail/tram system in the county of West Midlands, England. Opened on 30 May 1999, it currently consists of a single route, Line 1, which operates between the cities of Birmi ...
was extended to terminate at
Library of Birmingham.
Birmingham city centre tram extension opens to passengers ahead of schedule
Midland Metro Alliance
Gallery
References
General
*
External links
{{Commons category
Digital Ladywood - Picture of the ''Forward'' sculpture
Squares in Birmingham, West Midlands