National Westminster Bank, 103 Colmore Row and 10 Newhall Street, Birmingham
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English Heritage Advice Report 27 June 2014 Case Name: National Westminster Bank, 103 Colmore Row and 10 Newhall Street, Birmingham Case Number: 1417957 Background The building was turned down for listing and a Certificate of Immunity was issued on 10 October 2008. This has now expired and the owners have asked for a renewal of the certificate. English Heritage is also undertaking a project to consider a small selection of C20 commercial office buildings which date from the period 1964 to 1994. Recent research into the history of this period and building type has identified a number of these buildings which merit further investigation, including another by the John Madin Partnership: Neville House. It is therefore appropriate to consider the granting of a new Certificate of Immunity for the present building in this wider context. Asset(s) under Assessment Facts about the asset(s) can be found in the Annex(es) to this report. Annex List Entry Number Name Heritage Category EH Recommendation 1 N/A National Listing Do not add to List Westminster Bank, 103 Colmore Row, Birmingham Visits Date Visit Type 04 March 2014 Partial inspection Context The building has planning permission and conservation area consent for its complete demolition and its replacement with a taller office block of 35 storeys with ancillary retail (A1/A2/A3 uses) until 30 June 2015. Assessment CONSULTATION Our consultation report was issued on 8 April and sent to the owners and their agents, and the local planning authority. We received three replies: an officer from the conservation department of Birmingham City Council responded, saying that they had nothing to add to the factual report, but adding that they would support the listing of the building, especially of the banking hall. The Secretary of the Manchester Modernist Society responded, having gained our details through a third party, objecting to the issuing of a Certificate of Immunity in light of the forthcoming demolition of Birmingham Central Library and the Yorkshire Post building, both designed by Madin. A member of the public with an interest in preserving the building also contacted us by telephone, asking to be informed of proceedings. We received no further responses. DISCUSSION The Revised Principles of Selection for Listing Buildings (March 2010) state that buildings of pre-1700 date that contain a significant proportion of their original fabric are listed. Also, that most buildings of pre-1840 date are listed. Page 1 of 8 English Heritage Advice Report 27 June 2014 After 1840, because of the greatly increased number of buildings erected and the much larger numbers that have survived, progressively greater selection is necessary, with particularly careful selection required for buildings from the period after 1945. These principles are amplified in the Building Selection Guides published by English Heritage in April 2011. The guidance for Commerce and Exchange buildings points out that buildings considered as offices tend to date only from the mid-C19 onwards, when they were usually called 'chambers'. In the C20 their role in supplying an image for the business conducted inside has developed to the position where they are now one of the most important building types in post-war England and many of the most iconic buildings of the later C20 are office buildings. Changed working patterns have also had an effect on the design of offices, including open-plan working from the 1970s onwards. In common with other commercial buildings, offices survive in considerable numbers, and are subject to a high degree of standardisation, so selection for designation needs to be very discriminating. The former Nat West building was last assessed for a Certificate of Immunity in October 2008. At that time a certificate was granted for the following principal reasons: * Although this building has good qualities of massing, it lacks the high degree of architectural quality and sophisticated detailing which would be expected of a building of this date. * The overall scheme has been considerably compromised by later alterations to one block in the 1990s. * The interior of the banking hall retains a high number of original fixtures and fittings, but this is not matched by the interiors elsewhere, which lack coherence and aesthetic quality. In the interim, a number of relevant factors have occurred which need to be addressed in the light of this application for the granting of a new Certificate of Immunity, which would be valid for a further period of five years. Briefly, these considerations are that two further buildings by Madin have been assessed for listing in recent years; that a biography of the architect has been published, together with an illustrated, on-line catalogue of much of his work (see SOURCES, Alan Clawley, and Christopher Madin); that the 2013 Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act has amended the 1990 Planning (lListed Buildings and Conservaton Areas Act) so that the law allows, where appropriate, for a greater discrimination in selecting which parts of a building should be protected by designation. In addition, the English Heritage Building Selection Guides, as discussed above, were published in April 2011. These factors, where relevant, will be considered in this assessment. John Hardcastle Madin was born in Birmingham, the son of a builder, who trained at the Birmingham School of Architecture. After war service he travelled in Scandanavia, where he particularly admired the modernist buildings in Stockholm, and in the United States, where he was given introductions to Frank Lloyd Wright and Walter Gropius. In 1950 he set up his own practice and after two years he invited two of his contemporaries from the Birmingham School of Architecture, Tom Hood and Doug Smith to join his practice. Early work was principally houses for private individuals, but gradually the practice expanded into other areas. Commissions seem to have come to him through word of mouth and connections. In an interview in 1969 he described the way by which he got work: ‘the commissions which we get are purely fortuitous. I have no idea why the Calthorpe estate approached me, unless it was because I had just completed a small office block for the Engineering and Allied Employers Federation. But these commissions naturally led me on to getting a commission to design the new Chamber of Commerce, at the official opening of which I was asked (by the chairman of the newspaper group himself) to do the new building for the Birmingham Post and Mail’. The development of the Nat West site at 103, Colmore Row took place in two distinct phases. This fact, together with the alterations which have occurred to one of the three blocks, means that it is perhaps best to initially consider each of the blocks separately and then assess their grouping. The L-shaped block to the west of the site dates from 1969, and the first phase of development on the site. This five-storey block was re-clad in 1996-7 by the Seymour Harris Partnership and raised in height to eight storeys. Although the building respects the floor-height of the original, the new cladding varies in its texture, colour, and in the dimensions of the window openings, from its former appearance. The fact that the block has also been raised in height by three storeys and the interior re-planned means that it cannot now be considered as part of the original scheme and this high degree of alteration also means that the building cannot be considered as a suitable candidate for designation. The bank building was also built in 1969 and it is amongst the last in the country to combine the traditional plan of corner entrances with multiple cashiers' desks, at a time when credit cards were providing an alternative to bank notes and changing the nature of security within branches. No. 103 Colmore Row Page 2 of 8 English Heritage Advice Report 27 June 2014 combines a deliberately heavy exterior appearance with an interior of some refinement, with careful detailing which can be seen through the plate glass windows. The double doors at the southern and eastern corners, with their relief panels incorporating the National Westminster logo, are an inspired treatment of the entrances. They provide interest once the bank is closed and also combine with much of the interior decoration to provide a contemporary interpretation of the traditional architectural messages expected of banks: prosperous solidity and substance. Travertine marble for the flooring and solid wood for the counter fronts were used for their hard-wearing properties, but they combine with the dramatic gold-leaf decoration of the coffered to provide indications of institutional prosperity. Other messages are implied by the approach to the manager's office on the upper floor, by means of a private staircase, and the decoration of the office with its panelled walls and drinks cabinet indicating discretion, status and hospitality. The banking hall is the most interesting of the interiors of the building and is well preserved with the great majority of its original fittings intact, including the overall plan form and details such as light fittings, switches, door furniture, decorative plaster panels and tile work to the walls and the coffered ceiling. However, some fittings have been damaged, including fixtures in the manager’s office. The office block shares the pre-cast concrete panels seen on the banking hall, and benefits from a dramatic stepped outline with an effective contrast of colours and textures, but its interiors are extremely plain when compared with those of the bank building; designed to present tenants with a basic space which they could adapt. The entrance foyer area, entered from Newhall Street, which might be expected to make the greatest impression, has little in the way of architectural treatment.