Island House was a locally listed building 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. ...

's Eastside area, with a roughly triangular footprint, and was built in 1912 by the architect G. E. Pepper. It was built in the Edwardian Mannerist style, ornately decorated with both Ionic and Doric decorations. Originally it was designed to be used as

office building An office is a space where an organization's employees perform administrative work in order to support and realize objects and goals of the organization. The word "office" may also denote a position within an organization with specific dut ...

and

warehouse A warehouse is a building for storing goods. Warehouses are used by manufacturers, importers, exporters, wholesalers, transport businesses, customs, etc. They are usually large plain buildings in industrial parks on the outskirts of cities ...

for the prominent “Messrs Churchill & Co” machine tool company. The opening ceremony of Island House was held in 1913. Located next to the

Masshouse Masshouse is a development site in Birmingham, United Kingdom where 13 highrise blocks are being constructed for public services, commerce and residential purposes. When completed, the blocks will have a prominent position on the Eastside skyli ...

developments, Island House was occupied by teams from

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 ...

's arts team, including Film Birmingham, Urban Fusion and

ArtsFest ArtsFest was an annual arts festival held in September in Birmingham, England. Between 1997 and 2012 ArtsFest brought together free short demonstrations of dance, music, film and theatre to concert halls, theatres, and open-air stages in vari ...

. The building was used in conjunction with other establishments in the city, including the

Ikon Gallery The Ikon Gallery () is an English gallery of contemporary art, located in Brindleyplace, Birmingham. It is housed in the Grade II listed, neo-gothic former Oozells Street Board School, designed by John Henry Chamberlain in 1877. Ikon was se ...

. Although Island House's future was jeopardised by the City Park Gate development, the building (along with a local

public house A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and wa ...

, the Fox and Grapes) was included in these plans; with a refurbishment and an upwards extension designed by

Make Architects Make Architects is an international architecture practice headquartered in London that also has offices in offices in Hong Kong and Sydney. Founded in 2004 by former Foster + Partners architect Ken Shuttleworth. The practice has a variety of proj ...

for Quintain. Island House Hotel La Tour

In early 2012 there was a campaign to save Island House, which Quintain had successfully applied for permission to demolish. Permission, in principle, was given by Birmingham City Council Planning Committee on 26 January 2012. At that time, however, it emerged that there was an outstanding

Section 106 agreement The Town and Country Planning Act 1990c 8 is an act of the United Kingdom Parliament regulating the development of land in England and Wales. It is a central part of English land law in that it concerns town and country planning in the United Ki ...

for refurbishment. Quintain applied for permission to vary the Section 106 agreement, but later withdrew their application, claiming that since no building work had commenced they did not need to honour the Section 106 Agreement, which is only triggered when building work commenced. The building was subsequently demolished in 2012.http://www.brumitecture.co.uk/island-house-birmingham-100-years-of-history-demolished/ Website page titled "Island House Birmingham: 100 Years of History Demolished

References

External links

Birmingham Urban designer and Victorian Society Case Worker, Joe Holyoak on the campaign to save the building
{{BirminghamBuildings Buildings and structures in Birmingham, West Midlands Demolished buildings and structures in the West Midlands (county) Buildings and structures demolished in 2012