The Three Magpies Public House And Attached Walls

The Three Magpies Public House and Attached Walls, Shirley Road, Hall Green, Birmingham

A public house designed in 1935 by Wood, Kendrick & Reynolds for Mitchells and Butlers, the Three Magpies represents a rare surviving example of a "reformed" Birmingham public house in the Modernist style. The building displays the influence of Dutch architect Willem Dudok in its architectural language.

The structure is built in brown brick laid in Flemish bond with a flat roof that formerly included a roof garden. Its irregular plan and facades reflect the interior functional arrangement, comprising a bar, former Gents Smoking Room, former Assembly Room, former Outdoor Department, entrance hall and toilets. The building consists of one and two storey blocks arranged around a tall brick tower.

The front elevation of four bays retains most of its original metal windows of three lights, which are full height to the ground floor bars and half-height to the first floor private rooms. These windows are set between semi-circular brick mullions. A brick parapet in double soldier courses features Modernist dentilation with pre-cast copings. Original double-doors with Jazz-Moderne glazing pattern serve the former Outdoor Department and beer store lobby, both topped with projecting pre-cast stone canopies. Central doors to the former Empty Bottled Goods Store are now enclosed by a later bay window under pitched roof. The entrance hall doors are articulated by semi-circular brick piers. Original rainwater heads retain plain Moderne castings.

The rear elevation of four bays likewise retains most original metal windows set in soldier-coursed frames. Curved metal double-doors open to the Assembly Room, set within semi-circular brick piers beneath a pre-cast stone canopy. An external staircase to the right provides access to the Roof Garden. Three wooden sliding-sash windows serve the garden servery under a pre-cast stone canopy, designed to allow access to serving counters. Original rainwater heads with plain Moderne castings are present. A large projecting semi-circular bay at ground floor level on the bar elevation is divided by double-doors within semi-circular brick piers and contains two wooden replacement windows. Behind this, a private entrance to the manager's flat features a wooden four-panelled door with porthole window.

The ground floor interior retains exceptional original features. The bar preserves its original doors, bar carcass, bench seats, Moderne plaster mouldings and cupboards forming part of the back-fittings. The former Gents Smoking Room retains its original plaster cornice and mouldings, with Moderne decorative smoke extractor grilles to the ceiling and metal windows intact. The Assembly Room preserves original metal windows and glazed metal doors opening to the semi-circular garden end with access to outdoor stairs serving the Roof Garden. The former Outdoor Department retains original doors, counter carcass and radiator housing. Public bars are arranged around a central beer store and serving areas, which retain original horizontal wooden panelling and elements of the original shelving system. The garden servery and Assembly Room servery include original cupboards featuring a refrigeration unit. An electrically operated dumb-waiter goods lift, fitted with original Bakelite call-buttons, connects the first floor kitchen with the beer store and Assembly Room servery.

The first floor contains the manager's flat, accessed via a diagonally boarded private staircase. This comprises a sitting room with original fireplace, four bedrooms, bathroom, staff room, kitchen and roof garden servery. The rear service room for the roof garden retains original open cupboards, shelves and a metal sink beneath a porthole window, with a tiled kitchen adjoining.

Subsidiary features include an attached outdoor urinal block to the rear serving the bar and formerly the garden. An attached curtilage wall to the rear contains bench seats sheltered by a flat roof supported on semi-circular brick piers, alongside a garage. Tile ventilators pierce the rear wall, and wide wooden eaves with plain Moderne detailing are present throughout. The front elevation features an original low retaining wall to the car park with Moderne railings and gatepiers, later surmounted by lamps.

The building forms a notable group with the surviving Bowling Green House situated to the rear. Original building plans are held by Birmingham City Council (Building Plan no. 62996, dated 3 May 1935).