Former Brandauer Works

Former Brandauer Works

A manufactory dating from circa 1850, with extensions built circa 1870, 1887, and 1898. The 1898 extension was designed by John Henry Hawkes, architect of Birmingham. The building was subjected to late 20th-century alterations and was empty at the time of inspection in February 2002.

The structure is built of red brick with ashlar stone and moulded and polychrome brick dressings and decoration. It features gable and side wall chimneys, and slate and 20th-century sheet roof coverings.

The building follows an evolved double courtyard plan, comprising a South Range fronting New John Street, a West Range extending north from the west end of the South Range, a Middle Range extending eastwards from the centre of the West Range, and a Power House with chimney positioned at the centre of the North courtyard.

The South Range frontage displays two distinct phases. The earlier phase to the left comprises three storeys across 20 bays, rising from a shallow blue brick plinth. A wide semi-circular arched vehicle entrance with double doors is positioned at the right-hand end, with window openings featuring blue, white, and moulded brick decoration to the arched heads. Wide, complex storey bands run across the upper floors. Ground floor openings sit above blue brick bands, with glazing bar sash windows below segmental brick arches. Tall first floor windows have linked semi-circular arched heads and multi-pane metal window frames with pivoting centre lights. Upper floor windows feature shallow arched heads and 20th-century wooden frames. A decorative eaves band with cut brick decoration crowns the elevation. A pedimented doorway to the left-hand end contains double three-panel doors and an overlight with decorative glazing bars. A further door to the right of the vehicle opening houses a four-panel door. The 1896 extension to the South Range comprises 12 bays across three storeys over a basement, featuring semi-circular arched openings to the ground floor beneath linked hood moulds, moulded brick surrounds, and barred sash windows. A moulded brick band runs below the first floor windows, which contain six-over-six pane sashes beneath shallow arched heads. Smaller second floor windows are similarly detailed. The upper floor contains six triple windows with linked semi-circular heads and glazing bar sash frames. A long louvred ventilator runs along the ridge.

The courtyard elevations are functionally detailed with metal-framed windows set in arch-headed openings with blue brick surrounds. Full-height chimneys and flues project from the rear walls at regular intervals. At the junction of the South and West ranges stands a circular stair tower with moulded brick eaves, multi-pane metal window frames, and a shallow arch-headed double doorway.

The West Range is multi-phase with a stepped roof line defining the west boundary of the site. The southern section comprises 12 bays arranged in an 8:4 configuration at the junction with the Middle Range, three storeys high, with the ground floor formerly enclosed within a double-pile extension. The later northern section, beyond the Middle Range, extends three storeys above a basement across 15 bays arranged in a 3:3:3:4:2 pattern, with a linked contemporary stair tower and roof water tank attached at the east end.

The Centre Range comprises two phases, three storeys across 17 bays arranged in a 7:10 configuration, with the seven-bay part being earlier and featuring smaller window openings. An east gable incorporates a chimney stack, with two upper floor windows and a blocked semi-circular arch-headed window to the ground floor.

Behind the east end of the Middle Range sits a two-storey Power House with a sheeted roof, hipped at the west end, and an attached tapered square stack at the south-east corner. Shallow arch-headed windows with multi-pane metal frames light the building, with an inserted ground floor doorway below a girder lintel to the south elevation.

The interior features conventional timber-floored construction, with shallow pitched roof structures carried on tie beam trusses with raking struts. The open-plan workshop interiors formerly incorporated work benching against closely-spaced windows. Some workshop areas retain integral re-heating hearths. Wall junctions between different phases are characterised by wide semi-circular arches which enhance the open-plan arrangement. A full-height cast iron spiral stair occupies the stair tower. The earliest part of the South Range contains a central arcade of cast iron columns carrying a longitudinal ceiling beam to the ground floor, together with a corner hearth and cupboard to a ground floor office within the same range. The east end compartment to the ground floor of the Middle Range exhibits brick jack-arch fire-proof construction.

According to the Pigott Smith map surveyed between 1850 and 1855, the site originally comprised an L-shaped range with a circular stair tower, a short west range, and a north range with three arms extending almost to the eastern site boundary. The north end of the West Range was built by James Moffat, builder, circa 1887. Drawings for the 1898 Hawkes extension indicate a first floor slitting room, a second floor warehouse, and a looking-over room to the upper floor.

The Former Brandauer Works represents a large-scale Birmingham manufactory which developed rapidly between circa 1850 and 1896, little-altered and reflecting the distinctive industrial architecture of one of the most dynamic and significant industrial communities of the period in England.