32-34, WARSTONE LANE

32-34 Warstone Lane is a terrace of three shops and offices that were originally houses. Built around 1840, the buildings have undergone late 19th-century alterations and additions, with further changes made in the mid-20th century. The structure is made of red brick, which has been rendered and painted on the front, and features a hipped slate roof with an off-centre ridge and gable stacks on the right side.

The terrace has a three-unit frontage that is two storeys high, with attics and a lean-to extension at the back of Nos. 32 and 33. No. 34 has a long, storeyed workshop extension at the rear, creating an irregular L-shape that encloses a rear yard. The front elevation consists of three bays with ground floor shop fronts from the 20th century. To the right, there is a semi-circular arch-headed opening with a moulded surround, which contains a modern door and overlight; this was formerly the entrance to the passage leading to the rear yards. Above this entrance, there are roundels on the first and attic floors, with only the attic roundels being glazed. Sill bands run along the first and attic floors, where the window frames have been replaced with modern multi-pane designs. The rear elevation features a two-phase lean-to addition and a two-storey workshop wing with ten bays, which includes an upper floor doorway and flanking multi-pane workshop windows, many of which are early 20th-century replacements.

Historically, the buildings are depicted on the Piggot-Smith map from 1855-62 as a range of three houses, with significant construction already taking place at the back of No. 32. The 1889 Ordnance Survey map indicates some development at the rear of the other two houses, but the long workshop range was built after 1889. The 1845 Street Directory lists the occupants as private individuals and a baker. This prominent street frontage of 19th-century dwellings has been adapted for manufacturing use in the late 19th century and is situated in the heart of a manufacturing district in Birmingham that is now recognized for its international significance.