The Roundhouse, cobbled ramps and tunnel (formerly stables for the City of Birmingham Engineers Depot)

Horseshoe shaped stables built in 1873-1874 for the Birmingham Corporation.

MATERIALS: constructed of red brick in Flemish garden wall bond with Welsh slate roofs.

PLAN: a two and three storey crescent shaped building which occupies the majority of the site.

EXTERIOR: the building has a symmetrical composition of horseshoe design built of red brick with some stone trim, with a Welsh slate roof covering. There are two ribbed ramps laid from the entrance at the junction of St Vincent Street and Sheepcote Street, one straight down and under an arch at the crown of the horseshoe, the other around the horseshoe and over the arch.

The central wing has three bays. Each has a plank door with glazed fanlight to the centre with a centrally placed half glazed loading door above. Flanking these are two round-arched windows in red and blue header bricks to the ground floor with a single centrally placed round arched window above. The windows are replica iron. The central loading door has surviving loading hoist above. The flanking wings also have plank doors with glazed fanlights above, with matching fenestration to the central block.

The outer face of the asset has an additional visible lower storey with unfenestrated brickwork in Flemish Garden wall bond. The lower storey has contiguous barrel-vaulted chambers with intervening brick buttresses. There are three round arched windows with red and blue brick detailing located at the upper storey of the central section. Located directly below the south and southeast facing windows are two modern floor-ceiling windows; one is a protruding angular bay.

INTERIOR: whilst the interior has been substantially modernised for office and hospitality use, there are a number of surviving historic features. The interior is a series of interconnecting rooms, with some modern inserted partitions dividing the spaces. Modern staircases have also been inserted to create partial upper floors in the southern end of the building. Within the lobby for the visitors centre, there is a surviving patch of exposed cobbles, demonstrating the buildings former stable use. Throughout the building, there are historic timber beams and roof supports.

SUBSIDIARY FEATURES: the circular yard area enclosed by the stables is surfaced in granite setts, with some basalt sets and granite kerbs.