muirhead tower

I was on the University of Birmingham campus yesterday for some stuff relating to Day Science/ Night Science. I’ve been onto campus quite a few times over the last month or two, but this time was in daylight and over in the North section.

Heading back to the station I had a good view of the Muirhead Tower one year into its massive refurbishment programme.

It took me a while to realise what was different (seriously – the building’s already been under scaffolding for at least the 10 years since I first arrived in Brum!)

I remember being crammed into the staircases with hundreds of other students waiting to go into their exams: trying to disregard the signs everywhere insistently telling us that for our own safety we should keep moving.

There’s a small part of me that would like to give it a go now.

In writing this post I had a look around and came across the Associated Architect’s blurb about the project.

I’m not so sure about the text running up the side of the building (apparently named after the first philosophy professor of the University) but I’m really glad to see that the new designs feature the Allardyce Nicol(l?) studio theatre because up until now it’s been secretively hidden away in the bottom of the tower accessed from the outside by a dingy back door type affair.

I’ve basically been lurking around these parts for a decade and never so much as seen anything advertised for here. I don’t know if they put on performances that are open to the public… but I can’t help but feel it would be quite nice if they did.