Birmingham Town Hall
The Town Hall is Birmingham’s largest, oldest and most important community facility serving the City Centre. Acclaimed at its opening in 1834, as the finest music hall in the country and one of the nation’s great classical buildings, it is a Grade 1 listed landmark located at the very heart of the City overlooking both Chamberlain and Victoria Squares.
The £35 million project to restore the Town Hall and bring it back into use as a major and high quality performance venue, servicing a broad range of cultural, civic, business and community uses, was funded by Birmingham City Council, Heritage Lottery Fund and the European Regional Development Fund. lnvigour began work as the independent project advisors to the City Council and this role evolved into that of Employer’s Agent and Project Management with responsibility to see the scheme through a particularly critical stage and into contract with a main contractor (Wates Construction Ltd), under an innovative partnering arrangement.
Following this, Invigour led an expert construction and conservation team in the painstaking restoration aspects of the project that included assessing and repairing the external Anglesey Marble stonework; analysing and designing a new colour scheme for the interior paintwork; investigating and repairing the ornate interior plasterwork; removing and replacing the roof to reinstate the original architectural design; along with the protection and refurbishment of the magnificent 70 foot high 1834 William Hill organ and acoustic improvements including secondary glazing and internal canopy to regulate acoustics in different performance modes.
The project was handed over successfully to the City Council and the operator Performances Birmingham on time and within budget, with Invigour’s role regarded as being instrumental in the successful re-birth of this iconic City centre landmark fit for the 21st century; to create an international standard performance venue to operate alongside Symphony Hall.
“Working alongside the Invigour team has been a true pleasure.
Their professional and knowledgeable approach to overcoming difficult issues was exemplary.
They demonstrated a full understanding of the project from both the building perspective and heritage requirements, whilst also engaging with end users to understand and resolve the revenue implications of particular decisions during the building process.
The Invigour team also maintained excellent relationships with their stakeholders, particularly Birmingham City Council and the Heritage Lottery Fund. Their commitment to making this project succeed was admirable.”
Andrew Jowett
Former Director
Town Hall & Symphony Hall Birmingham