Birmingham Midland Institute is a Grade II* listed building in the Birmingham local planning authority area, England. First listed on 21 January 1970. A C19 Institute. 2 related planning applications.
Birmingham Midland Institute
- WRENN ID
- rough-cellar-scarlet
- Grade
- II*
- Local Planning Authority
- Birmingham
- Constituency
- Birmingham Ladywood MP: Shabana Mahmood (Lab)
- Country
- England
- Date first listed
- 21 January 1970
- Type
- Institute
- Address
- Birmingham Midland Institute, Margaret Street B3, B3 3BS
- OS grid reference
- SP 066 870
- Coordinates
- 52.4814, -1.90374
- Source
- Historic England listing
Description
The Birmingham Midland Institute, formerly listed as The Birmingham Library, is a building constructed in 1899 by Cassins, Peacock and Bewlay. It features red brick with stone dressings and a green stone tiled roof. The structure has two storeys, a basement, and an attic, with a total of five bays. The outer bays are advanced and gabled, with the right bay being broader and taller than the left.
The ground floor includes a modern entrance with a three-light transomed window above, flanked by three four-light windows with transoms and bold voussoirs in the arches. The entrance is accessed via steps within an archway that is flanked by banded Ionic columns and arched panels. On the first floor, there is a three-light window and six two-light windows, which are separated by banded Ionic columns that alternate on the keystone of the windows below. These columns are supported by buttresses rising from the basement level. There is also a Serlian-type window with banded Ionic pilasters and a sculpted semi-circular panel above the centre light. Below these six windows is a sculpted band of Renaissance-type decoration. All first-floor windows have two transoms, and there is a richly decorated cornice and parapet above, behind which are three four-light flat-headed dormer windows. All windows are fitted with leaded lights.
The right-hand return on Cornwall Street has three bays and is similar in design to the Margaret Street elevation. There is no significant interior detail mentioned.
Local climate
Birmingham Midland Institute receives an average of 780 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 60% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 76% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 39 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 75% of listed buildings. Of these, 19 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.
Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.
More on this building
Sign in or create a free account to unlock:
- Full EPC report — heating system, energy costs, size, glazing, construction etc.
- No sale records on file
- Related listed building consents — 2 applications
- Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
- Flood risk assessment
- Radon risk assessment
- Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
Matched applications, energy data and sale records are assembled automatically and may contain errors. Flag incorrect data.
Similar buildings
The closest matches to this building from all 493,000 UK listed buildings, by architecture, period and materials.
this building 1 similar nearby listed buildings