Old Tram Depot (West Midlands Travel Engineering Workshops)

The Old Tram Depot, now used as West Midlands Travel Engineering Workshops, is a former tram shed dating from 1906, with alterations made in the mid-20th century. It was likely designed by F.B. Osborn, who also designed the adjacent office range, and originally served Birmingham Corporation Tramways. The building is constructed of red brick with ashlar dressings and Welsh slate roofs, incorporating clerestories and built in a Baroque Revival style.

The depot has a plinth, rusticated pilasters, a cornice, and a pierced balustrade. It comprises six bays by nine bays. The windows are largely wooden cross casements with glazing bars, many of which are now boarded. The front, facing Moseley Road, features elliptical arches with rusticated ashlar heads and double keystones under a continuous cornice. Three ramped, coped gables rise above, each containing an oeillet window with multiple keystones and a round window above, all set within a pediment. Pilasters are topped by segmental pediments. A narrow recess displays a sculpted coat of arms, with a blank arch to the left containing a round arched window. Further arches house rounder-shutter doors; one is blocked. The right return, facing Trafalgar Road, mirrors this treatment, with three projecting bays, each featuring a pediment and pilasters above a tall window and an oeillet window above the cornice. Intermediate bays are divided by pilasters with segmental pediments, each containing two round-headed windows. The remaining sides of the building are plain brickwork, with no openings.

The interior is lined with white and brown glazed brick, with a dado of brown glazed brick. The roof structure consists of angle-iron trusses and clerestories supported by lengthwise lattice girders and rivetted I-section stanchions. A single-storey block of internal offices was added to the Trafalgar Road side in the mid-20th century.

Historically, the tram shed was part of a promotional scheme for a revitalised tram service that began in January 1907. It received more elaborate architectural detailing than other depots, although its form and construction were similar. The building was adapted for bus use in 1949 and closed in 1975.