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

The Roundhouse is a horseshoe-shaped stable building constructed between 1873 and 1874 for the Birmingham Corporation as stables for the City of Birmingham Engineers Depot. It is a building of group value, recognized for its exceptional architectural and historical significance.

The building is constructed of red brick in a Flemish garden wall bond, with Welsh slate roofs. It occupies the majority of its site as a two and three-story crescent-shaped structure. The symmetrical composition emphasizes the horseshoe design. Two ribbed cobbled ramps lead to the entrance, located at the junction of St Vincent Street and Sheepcote Street; one descends straight under an arch at the horseshoe’s crown, while the other curves around the horseshoe and over the arch.

The central wing has three bays, each featuring a plank door with a glazed fanlight above, and a centrally placed half-glazed loading door above. Flanking these are round-arched windows with red and blue header bricks on the ground floor, with a single centrally placed round arched window above. These windows are replica iron. A surviving loading hoist is positioned above the central loading door. The flanking wings mirror this design with plank doors, glazed fanlights, and matching fenestration.

The outer face includes a visible lower storey with unfenestrated brickwork in Flemish garden wall bond, containing contiguous barrel-vaulted chambers separated by brick buttresses. Three round arched windows with red and blue brick detailing are positioned at the upper storey of the central section. Modern floor-to-ceiling windows, including a protruding angular bay, have been inserted below the south and southeast-facing upper windows.

The interior has been extensively modernized for office and hospitality use, but retains several historic features. It comprises interconnecting rooms, some divided by modern partitions, and includes modern staircases creating partial upper floors in the southern end. A section of exposed cobbles in the visitors’ centre lobby demonstrates the building’s former use as stables. Historic timber beams and roof supports are visible throughout the building.

The circular yard enclosed by the stables is surfaced with granite setts, with some basalt sets and granite kerbs.