Architectural drawings of the Great Hall, University of Birmingham

Working architectural drawings and some steelwork drawings steelwork for the design and building of the Great Hall of the University of Birmingham. They comprise plans, elevations, sections and details of the Great Hall and its fabric and fittings. The majority include the drawing number assigned by the architect and it is clear from these numbers that they would have formed part of a much larger set of drawings for the Great Hall.

A number of the drawings have been subsequently annotated in red or blue ink to indicate revisions and amendments and some also include cross references to other drawing numbers for further detailed or superseded drawings. A few also have pencil annotations and amendments.All but one of the plans are undated but it would appear that - as the building work only began at the beginning of 1905 - these working drawings are unlikely to be earlier in date than 1904. A few of the annotations and amendments have been dated up to 1910. Each plan also records the address of the architects, 19 Queen Anne's Gate, London S.W. and a small number also have been stamped with the name and address of the practice, Verner Rees Lawrence and Mitchell, into whose hands these drawings subsequently passed.

In July 1900 the newly chartered University of Birmingham was offered a twenty-five acre rectangular site of land in Edgbaston by Lord Calthorpe. A University Building Committee was established in February 1901, and a London based company of architects, Sir Aston Webb (1849-1930) and Edward Ingress Bell (1837-1914) was appointed as the University architects. The choice of a London company as opposed to a local one was that of Joseph Chamberlain, (Chancellor of the University of Birmingham, 1901-1914) and was not that of Sir Oliver Lodge (First Principal of the University of Birmingham, 1900-1919). The designs for the Edgbaston buildings - known as the Aston Webb Buildings - went through a number of different versions but they all retained the semi-circular concept. The final form of the design appears not to have been reached until 1902. In fact, the Great Hall was not initially intended to be part of the first stage of building, nor on the site where it currently stands. However, by September 1901, it was decided to include the Great Hall in the first stage of building work and its site - with an increase in size from 7,500 square feet to 11,250 square feet - was moved to become the focus of the semi-circle. Its design was also revised: for example, it was originally designed to have a spire over the entrance, and a dome topped by a double cupola but this was subsequently sized down. Building on the Great Hall was started in January 1905, and was almost complete by March 1908, although not all the fittings were in place for Edward VII's official visit to open the buildings on 7 July 1909. It was seen as the "greatest glory" of the new University and its fittings were highly artistic, richly embellished with ceramics and heraldry.

Reference: 'The first civic university: Birmingham 1880-1980: an introductory history' by Eric Ives, Diane Drummond, Leonard Schwarz (Birmingham, Birmingham University Press, 2000).

The drawings are arranged in two series, one for the working architectural drawings one for the copies of steel work drawings.

Open. Access to all registered researchers.

Presented by retired partner of Verner Rees, September 2006 per Victoria and Albert Museum.

Please see full catalogue for more information.

Permission to make any published use of any material from the collection must be sought in advance in writing from the Director of Special Collections (email: special-collections@contacts.bham.ac.uk). Identification of copyright holders of unpublished material is often difficult. Special Collections will assist where possible with identifying copyright owners, but responsibility for ensuring copyright clearance rests with the user of the material.

Verner Rees was appointed as architect to the University during the Second World War and his practice worked on alterations and new buildings at the University of Birmingham in the later 1940s, but particularly in the period of expansion of the Edgbaston site in the 1950s and 1960s. In all, the firm had some 80 contracts with the University over a period of 22 years until the death of Verner Rees. During this time, the firm was loaned the drawings of the Great Hall by the University's Estates Department. These were not required back, when offered, in the 1980s. The donor joined the practice in 1953 as a junior architect when the plans were already in the firm's possession. On retiring as partner in the practice, he has presented the drawings to the University.
Source: Information supplied by donor.

The Cadbury Research Library: Special Collections holds the archives of the University which includes minutes of the University Buildings Committee which charts the progress of the development. The archives also include designs and perspectives produced by Sir Aston Webb, preliminary sketches of floor plans for all the buildings and block plan, working architectural drawings for the Chemistry Block and steelwork drawings for the boiler house. There is currently no finding aid to the drawings in the University's archives.