Muirhead
Tower, University of Birmingham, UK
Architect
|
Arup - Sir
Philip Dawson
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Date
Built
|
1971 |
Location
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Edgbaston
Campus
|
Description
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The
University of Birmingham's Muirhead Tower
is clearly a Marmite building that has
drawn a significant degree of criticism
during its life but which, after a 2 year
£40m transformation, remains an icon of
modernist architecture on the Edgbaston
Campus.
Designed by Sir Philip Dawson, a founder
of Arup Associates, the building is made
up of two off-set 12-storey towers sitting
on a shared podium. Between 2007 and
2009 the building underwent a significant
transformation by the Birmingham based
Associated Architects working with Sir
Philip Dawson. The university's
website explains that, "... The
design keeps the façade as designed by
Sir Philip Dowson but completely
transforms the interior to create a
space that is functional but also
beautiful. ... The renovation led by
the University’s Estates Team
completely remodelled the tower to
create a state of the art home for the
University’s College of Social
Sciences and Special Collections. The
12th floor of the building also
includes a Hospitality Suite with a
fully functional kitchen and board
room boasting panoramic views out
across the city. .... The tower
includes a number of sustainable
features including solar shading
(known in the trade as brise soliel)
to control temperatures, as well as
low energy fans; timed lighting to
reduce energy waste; natural
ventilation systems and a heat source
taken from the University’s combined
heat and power generator."
Apparently, the
building had a Paternoster lift but
that seems to have been removed during
the transformation.
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