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Council House, Handsworth
The Council House is a former municipal building in Soho Road in Handsworth, West Midlands, a suburb of Birmingham in England. The building, which is currently used as a public library and college campus, is a Grade II listed building. History Following significant population growth, largely associated with steam engine manufacturing at Soho Foundry, a local board of health was formed in Handsworth in 1877. The board decided to commission a municipal building for its use, to provide Local Board offices, a meeting room for the Board, committee rooms and a large public room, 'together with stables, cart and implement sheds, and other requisite accommodation'. The site selected was on the north side of Soho Road. The foundation stone for the new building was laid on 30 October 1877. It was designed by Alexander & Henman of Stockton-on-Tees in the Gothic Revival style, built in red brick and terracotta at a cost of £20,662 and was completed in 1879. The design involved a main front ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Handsworth, West Midlands
Handsworth () is an inner-city area of Birmingham in the county of the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Historically in Staffordshire, Handsworth lies just outside Birmingham City Centre and near the town of Smethwick. In 2021 the ward had a population of 11,820. History The name ''Handsworth'' originates from its Anglo-Saxons, Saxon owner Hondes and the Old English language, Old English word ''weorthing'', meaning farm or estate. It was recorded in the Domesday Book, Domesday Survey of 1086, as a holding of William Fitz-Ansculf, the Lord of Dudley, although at that time it would only have been a very small village surrounded by farmland and extensive woodland. One of the oldest buildings in Handsworth is the Old Town Hall, Handsworth, Old Town Hall which dates from 1460. Historically in the county of Staffordshire, it remained a small village from the 13th century to the 18th century. Accommodation was built for factory workers, the village quickly grew, and in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mullion
A mullion is a vertical element that forms a division between units of a window or screen, or is used decoratively. It is also often used as a division between double doors. When dividing adjacent window units its primary purpose is a rigid support to the glazing of the window. Its secondary purpose is to provide structural support to an arch or lintel above the window opening. Horizontal elements separating the head of a door from a window above are called transoms. History Stone mullions were used in Armenian, Saxon and Islamic architecture prior to the 10th century. They became a common and fashionable architectural feature across Europe in Romanesque architecture, with paired windows divided by a mullion, set beneath a single arch. The same structural form was used for open arcades as well as windows, and is found in galleries and cloisters. In Gothic architecture, windows became larger and arrangements of multiple mullions and openings were used, both for structure and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
South And City College Birmingham
South & City College Birmingham is a further education, further and higher education college in Birmingham, England, offering a range of full-time and part-time courses. The college was formed through the merger of South Birmingham College and City College Birmingham. History South & City College Birmingham was formed through a merger between South Birmingham College and City College Birmingham, with South Birmingham College officially changing its name to South & City College Birmingham on Wednesday 1 August 2012. On Wednesday 2 August 2017, South & City College Birmingham merged again with Bournville College. The college has eight campuses, and accepts students aged 14 and above. Previously, the college had campuses in multiple areas but some have since closed, including Balsall Heath Women's Centre, Ladywood Campus, Tyseley Campus and the original location of the Fusion Centre. Every academic year, South & City College Birmingham provides education and training to over 20, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Birmingham City University
Birmingham City University (abbrev. BCU) is a university in Birmingham, England. Initially established as the Birmingham College of Art with roots dating back to 1843, it was designated as a polytechnic (United Kingdom), polytechnic in 1971 and gained university status in 1992. The university has two main campuses serving four faculties, and offers courses in art and design, business, the built environment, computing, education, engineering, English, healthcare, law, the performing arts, social sciences, and technology. A £125 million extension to its Birmingham City University City Centre Campus, campus in the city centre of Birmingham, part of the Eastside, Birmingham, Eastside development of a new technology and learning quarter, is opening in two stages, with the first phase having opened in 2013. It is the second largest of five universities in the city, the other four being the University of Birmingham (which is the largest), Aston University, University College Bi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Birmingham City Council
Birmingham City Council is the local authority for the city of Birmingham in the West Midlands, England. Birmingham has had an elected local authority since 1838, which has been reformed several times. Since 1974 the council has been a metropolitan borough council, a type of unitary authority. It provides the majority of local government services in the city. It is the most populous local government district in England, serving over 1.1million people. The council has been a member of the West Midlands Combined Authority since 2016. The council has been under Labour majority control since 2012. It is based at the Council House on Victoria Square, Birmingham. On 6 September 2023, the council declared effective bankruptcy, and central government commissioners were subsequently appointed to run the council under emergency measures. History Until the 18th century, Birmingham was governed by manorial courts and its parish vestry. A body of improvement commissioners called the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Machicolation
In architecture, a machicolation () is an opening between the supporting corbels of a battlement through which defenders could target attackers who had reached the base of the defensive wall. A smaller related structure that only protects key points of a fortification are referred to as Bretèche. Machicolation, hoarding, bretèche, and murder holes are all similar defensive features serving the same purpose, that is to enable defenders atop a defensive structure to target attackers below. The primary benefit of the design allowed defenders to remain behind cover rather than being exposed when leaning over the parapet. They were common in defensive fortifications until the widespread adoption of gunpowder weapons made them obsolete. Etymology The word machicolation derives from Old French , mentioned in Medieval Latin">-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ... , mentioned in Medieval Lat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lancet Window
A lancet window is a tall, narrow window with a sharp pointed arch at its top. This arch may or may not be a steep lancet arch (in which the compass centres for drawing the arch fall outside the opening). It acquired the "lancet" name from its resemblance to a lance. Instances of this architectural element are typical of Gothic church edifices of the earliest period. Lancet windows may occur singly, or paired under a single moulding, or grouped in an odd number with the tallest window at the centre. The lancet window first appeared in the early French Gothic period (c. 1140–1200), and later in the Early English period of Gothic architecture (1200–1275). So common was the lancet window feature that this era is sometimes known as the "Lancet Period". The term ''lancet window'' is properly applied to single-light windows of austere form, without tracery. Paired windows were sometimes surmounted by a simple opening such as a quatrefoil cut in plate tracery. This form gave way t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oriel Window
An oriel window is a form of bay window which protrudes from the main wall of a building but does not reach to the ground. Supported by corbels, bracket (architecture), brackets, or similar cantilevers, an oriel window generally projects from an upper floor, but is also sometimes used on the ground floor. Etymology According to the ''Oxford English Dictionary'', the term ''oriel'' is derived from Anglo-Norman language, Anglo-Norman ' and Late Latin ', both meaning "gallery" or "porch", perhaps from Classical Latin ' ("curtain"). History Oriel windows became popular in the 15th century. They allowed more sunlight into a room compared to conventional flat windows, and were therefore popular in northern countries such as England. They also could increase the usable space in a house without changing the footprint of the building. Oriel windows are seen in Islamic architecture, Arab architecture in the form of mashrabiya and in Turkish are known as ''şahnişin'' or ''cumba''. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Transom (architecture)
In architecture, a transom is a transverse horizontal structural beam or bar, or a crosspiece separating a door from a window above it. This contrasts with a mullion, a vertical structural member. Transom or transom window is also the customary U.S. word used for a transom light, the window over this crosspiece. In Britain, the transom light is usually referred to as a fanlight, often with a semi-circular shape, especially when the window is segmented like the slats of a folding hand fan. A prominent example of this is at the main entrance of 10 Downing Street, the official residence of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. History In early Gothic ecclesiastical work, transoms are found only in belfry unglazed windows or spire lights, where they were deemed necessary to strengthen the mullions in the absence of the iron stay bars, which in glazed windows served a similar purpose. In the later Gothic, and more especially the Perpendicular Period, the introduction of tran ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Turret (architecture)
In architecture, a turret is a small circular tower, usually notably smaller than the main structure, that projects outwards from a wall or corner of that structure. Turret also refers to the small towers built atop larger tower structures. Etymology The word ''turret'' originated in around the year 1300 from ''touret'' which meant "small tower rising from a city wall, castle, or other larger building." ''Touret'' came from the Old French term ''torete'' which is the diminutive form of ''tour'', meaning “tower.” ''Tour'' dates back to the Latin word ''turris'' which also means “tower.” There is a record from 1862 of ''turret'' being used to mean "low, flat gun tower on a warship." Around this time, the word split into two separate definitions, with this definition being the one that goes on to describe gun turrets, a separate idea from the architectural element. Uses Turrets initially arose on castles out of a defensive need for greater visibility. Since they proje ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gothic Revival Architecture
Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half of the 19th century, mostly in England. Increasingly serious and learned admirers sought to revive medieval Gothic architecture, intending to complement or even supersede the Neoclassical architecture, neoclassical styles prevalent at the time. Gothic Revival draws upon features of medieval examples, including decorative patterns, finials, lancet windows, and hood moulds. By the middle of the 19th century, Gothic Revival had become the pre-eminent architectural style in the Western world, only to begin to fall out of fashion in the 1880s and early 1890s. For some in England, the Gothic Revival movement had roots that were intertwined with philosophical movements associated with Catholicism and a re-awakening of high church or Anglo-Cathol ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Polygon
In geometry, a polygon () is a plane figure made up of line segments connected to form a closed polygonal chain. The segments of a closed polygonal chain are called its '' edges'' or ''sides''. The points where two edges meet are the polygon's '' vertices'' or ''corners''. An ''n''-gon is a polygon with ''n'' sides; for example, a triangle is a 3-gon. A simple polygon is one which does not intersect itself. More precisely, the only allowed intersections among the line segments that make up the polygon are the shared endpoints of consecutive segments in the polygonal chain. A simple polygon is the boundary of a region of the plane that is called a ''solid polygon''. The interior of a solid polygon is its ''body'', also known as a ''polygonal region'' or ''polygonal area''. In contexts where one is concerned only with simple and solid polygons, a ''polygon'' may refer only to a simple polygon or to a solid polygon. A polygonal chain may cross over itself, creating star polyg ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
