School Of Jewellery And Silversmithing

The School of Jewellery and Silversmithing, located on Vittoria Street in Hockley, Birmingham, is a building that evolved through several phases of construction beginning in 1865. It was initially designed as workshops and offices for jewellers, likely by J.G. Bland. The school itself was established in 1890 and Cook undertook work on the building in 1891. A second floor was added in 1906 by Cossins, Peacock and Bewlay, and a significant south extension followed in 1911, also by the same architects.

The original section of the building is constructed of red brick with stone dressings and some tilework, featuring a deep plinth. The ground and first floor windows are set within Gothic arches, incorporating brick and stone serrated gauged work and decorative hoodmoulds terminating on foliate stops. Ground floor sash windows are fitted with shouldered stone surrounds incorporating mouldings. First floor windows are two-light designs with flat arches, colonettes, and tympana decorated with quatrefoils and coloured tiles. An original eaves cornice sits above the first floor, ornamented with cut brackets and consoles. The 1906 addition introduces a third attic floor with broad workshop casements, divided by plain brick piers and overhanging eaves. A wrought iron balcony with scrolled top uprights runs across the top of the original eaves cornice.

The 1911 extension is a three-storey and basement building, designed with a slight batter to the tower wings. It has high-quality thin red brickwork with rebated pointing, classical stone dressings, and patterned brickwork reflecting the Birmingham Arts and Crafts movement. The recessed central section features three broad bays of metal-framed windows across the basement and two main storeys, separated by chamfered and panelled brick piers. Stone-panelled aprons are positioned between the floors, with brickwork above the basement. A deep classical stone entablature sits over the first floor. Above the cornice, three pairs of cambered arched windows are set within a tall parapet with moulded brick coping, which returns to the tower wings. The tower wings have narrow round-headed window bays rising through all floors to meet the central entablature. Revealed panels, rising from thin sills at attic level, create a quoin pilaster effect, incorporating patterned brick medallions above the sills. The overall design represents a subtly balanced elevation with sharp detailing.