16 May 2008

The Mailbox

Originally the site of the Royal Mail's main Birmingham sorting office, built in 1970, this is now Birmingham's largest multi-use building.

The original building was designed by RH Ousman of the Ministry of Public Building and Works, who worked with architects HAE Giddings, E Winters and R Lee. When it was finally ready to use, it was the largest electronic sorting office in the country and, with a floor area of 20 acres, the largest building in Birmingham. The building was connected to New Street station by a tunnel to that letters could be delivered directly to the office.

In 1997, the bulding was bought for £3 million by Alan Chatham who also bought some of the surrounding buildings for £1 million. Three years and £150 million later, The Mailbox, containing offices, apartments, shops, restaurants and bars, was opened to the public.

In 2004, the BBC moved to The Mailbox from their Pebble Mill Studios in Edgebaston. They are located on level 7.

The photograph shows The Mailbox as viewed from the Birmingham and Worcester Canal.

2 comments:

Jane Hards Photography said...

This always takes me by surprsie. Still not used to this place, after my time.

Having laptop troubles. Hit an miss this week.

Unknown said...

Been around & through there a few times. Quite impressive use of an older building.

 
Clicky Web Analytics