Rotunda Reborn (a work in progress...)

Seeing the Rotunda being constructed on my father's photo's (especially the New Street Station pictures) has been particularly interesting given the building's current newsworthiness as a result of a major refurbishment.

As far as I can tell, the Rotunda was not universally accepted as a 'good thing' when it was opened in 1965.  It was like a big exclamation mark in the sky as if to say, "There you go, Brum, you really are a modern city now!".  But as the years passed it became accepted as Birmingham's most iconic building.  When the possibility of it being demolished as part of the new Bullring development was discussed, the city was outraged.  Being granted Grade II listing status ensured it would survive.

As if to emphasise the popularity of the building, people queued overnight to buy an apartment in October 2005.  They all sold out in less than 3 hours and, soon after, every window in the building had a blue and white SOLD sign in it!  Unfortunately, the sell-out was almost inevitable given that the developers Urban Splash had sold 140 of the 232 flats to Claremont Group for £25m a month earlier...

The task of converting an outdated office block into luxury apartments will not be easy.  The estimated completion date is early 2008.  I'll update this page as the work continues.

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To see what an inspiration the Rotunda can be, check out Matt Craig's 'Trouble Bruin'

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11th May 2006 - stripping has started	30th June 2006 - a blank canvas!

31st October 2006 - new cladding appears	18th April 2007 - cladding complete Note the little step in on the top floor - the penthouses have balconies...

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