Regency houses on Hagley Road, Edgbaston

Image: © A J Paxton Taken: 21 Mar 2022

The row of houses in this photo reflect the development of the Calthorpe Estate from 1810 as a wealthy suburb on the western outskirts of smoky, industrial Birmingham. They also, less obviously, embody the redevelopment of the estate from 1958 onwards according to the modernist plans of John Madin. For more on the history of the Calthorpe Estate see Image], also the Calthorpe Estate site https://www.calthorpe.co.uk/about/heritage/ , also the John Madin site https://www.john-madin.info/ . The nearest house, at the top left of the photo, is of three storeys and three bays, only two of which are visible here. It is a listed building and its listing on the Historic England site can be seen here https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1076346?section=official-list-entry . Beyond it can be seen the facade of a terrace of six houses which were built in 1819-20 to designs by Thomas and Joseph Bateman. The houses were largely demolished and replaced by modern offices in the early 1970s by the John Madin Design Group, who hid the new building behind the preserved original facade, which is also listed https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1343056 . Beyond them is a pair of red brick houses without stucco rendering, dating from the early to mid 19th century and now used as offices. These too are listed buildings https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1076345?section=official-list-entry . Rising above them is Hagley House, now known as Cobalt Square, an office block of 1965 by John Madin and his team. It can be seen here Image] and appears on the Wikipedia list of John Madin buildings https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_John_Madin_buildings .

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