Two For The Price of One

Birmingham New Street station is the busiest in UK outside London and has been a presence in the centre of the city for 170 years. It has been thoroughly refurbished in the last few years - described by one authority as "transformed from a sixties car-park-style, faceless concrete box into a curvaceous, mirrored entrance to the UK’s second largest city." 

The architect said "the building had no windows, eliminating the architectural potential offered by views in and out through glass. The decision was therefore made to use the building as a mirror for the city. It is an iconic image of Birmingham as a city... The building becomes a reflection of the city - the people, the public realm, the railway tracks below and the blue skies above.”

The "mirror" comprises polished stainless-steel panels. The lower panels are angled outwards from the structure and kick back in again towards the top to reflect and distort the ground and sky and surrounding high-rise buildings. Undeniably, it is striking and intriguing, well suited to a city that does not take itself too seriously but, after the completion of a lot more renovation across the city centre, was looking good in today's winter sunshine

The Electric Cinema is another Birmingham icon that showed its first silent film in December 1909. It has had many incarnations during its life, as a mainstream cinema, an arthouse venue, a 'news theatre' and a soft porn venue. Until last month it was "the oldest working cinema in the country", but it has closed suddenly after the renegotiation of its lease broke down. It has had many near-death experiences before, so all hope is not lost