67-71, Northwood Street

A late 19th-century factory and offices, originally a brass foundry, with 20th-century alterations. The building is constructed of smooth orange brick with moulded brick detailing, brick gable chimneys, and a Welsh slated roof. It has a courtyard plan, with a covered access way to an enclosed rear yard.

The asymmetrical, three-storeyed range facing Northwood Street has four bays, rising from a shallow blue brick plinth. The window openings are grouped 2:3:1:3, with two wide arched vehicular openings on the left, a narrow centre window, an off-centre doorway to the right, and three narrow sash windows in the right-hand bay. All openings have shallow segmental brick arched heads with painted projecting keyblocks. 20th-century garage doors are in the left-hand opening, and most windows have two-pane sashes without horns, set on painted moulded sill bands between shallow brick pilasters. A moulded brick eaves cornice runs along the top. The off-centre doorway has double panelled doors beneath a rectangular overlight, leading to a lobby and an inner doorway. The rear of the frontage range now looks onto the covered yard and has workshop windows with multi-pane metal frames. A four-bay return range links the main section to a rear range running parallel to the frontage and extending the full width of the plot. There is a plain stick baluster stair to the upper floor.

The main entrance leads to a stair hall with a patterned tile floor and a turned baluster dog-leg stair. Double-leaf panelled inner doors have decorative glass to narrow flanking lights and an overlight. A small office is to the left of the entrance, and a larger room to the right. On the first floor, there is a landing and a reception area with a hatch and bench for visitors. The upper floor is a single open space with strapped king-post roof trusses. The former open yard was covered in the late 20th century.

The 1886-7 Ordnance Survey map shows the building as a brass foundry, matching the footprint of the present works. The building is an example of a late 19th-century brass foundry and demonstrates the distinctive architectural characteristics of a specialist industrial quarter of Birmingham, now recognised for its international significance.