Selfridges at the Bullring

St Martin's Church, with Selfridges in the background

The interior of the Bullring

The Bull Ring market has been an important feature of Birmingham since the Middle Ages. The market began in the year 1154 when Peter de Birmingham a local landowner, obtained a royal charter. Initially a cattle and food market, it developed into the main retail market area for Birmingham as the town grew into a modern industrial city. Image File history File linksMetadata Bullring_birmingham. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Bullring_birmingham. ... A big contrast: The building to the left is the space-age Selfridges building, part of the new Birmingham Bullring shopping centre in central Birmingham. ... A big contrast: The building to the left is the space-age Selfridges building, part of the new Birmingham Bullring shopping centre in central Birmingham. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (600x800, 201 KB)The interior of the Birmingham Bullring shopping centre. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (600x800, 201 KB)The interior of the Birmingham Bullring shopping centre. ... The city from above Centenary Square. ... The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three ages: the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times, beginning with the Renaissance. ... Events King Stephen of England dies at Dover, and is succeeded by his adopted son Henry Plantagenet who becomes King Henry II of England, aged 21. ...

In 1809, a statue was erected to the memory of Lord Nelson. It was sculpted by Richard Westmacott and still stands, near to its original site, albeit on a 1960s plinth. 1809 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... Lord Nelson The Right Honourable Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, KB (29 September 1758 – 21 October 1805) was an Englishman, and a British admiral who won fame as a leading naval commander. ... Sir Richard Westmacott, Jr. ... The 1960s in its most obvious sense refers to the decade between 1960 and 1969, but the expression has taken on a wider meaning over the past twenty years. ...

In 1964 the 'new' Birmingham Bull Ring Centre was constructed, a mixture of traditional open-air market stalls and a new indoor shopping centre, one of the first of its kind in the UK. The 1960s Bull Ring Centre was very much a product of its time. At the time of its opening it was considered the height of modernity, but unfortunately it did not age well and soon became generally regarded as an unfortunate example of 1960s Brutalist architecture, with its boxy grey concrete design and lack of air conditioning, and was, in later days, much disliked by the public. For the Nintendo 64 emulator, see 1964 (Emulator). ... The 1960s in its most obvious sense refers to the decade between 1960 and 1969, but the expression has taken on a wider meaning over the past twenty years. ... Brutalism is an architectural style that spawned from the Modernist architectural movement and which flourished from the 1950s to the 1970s. ... Placing a concrete floor for a commercial building Installing rebar in a floor during a concrete pour In construction, concrete is a composite building material made from the combination of aggregate and cement binder. ... Note: in the broadest sense, air conditioning can refer to any form of heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning. ...

The 1960s Bull Ring Centre was demolished in 2000, and has been replaced by a new design, mixing both traditional market activity with up-to-the-minute retail units. A new indoor shopping centre, the "Bullring" (as the commercial entity is branded) opened in September 2003 and features a dramatic new landmark building, a branch of Selfridges department store. The latter is a novel, futuristic design from the Future Systems architectural practice, clad in 15,000 shiny aluminium discs. The 1960s in its most obvious sense refers to the decade between 1960 and 1969, but the expression has taken on a wider meaning over the past twenty years. ... This article is about the year 2000. ... The Mall, an out-of-town shopping centre at Patchway, near Bristol, England. ... 2003 (MMIII) is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Selfridges in Birmingham Selfridges is a chain of department stores in the United Kingdom. ... The Media Centre at Lords Cricket Ground Future Systems is a London-based architectural and design practice, headed by Jan Kaplicky and Amanda Levete. ...

It is part of the Birmingham redevelopment plan. The Birmingham Redevelopment Plan is a huge, expensive redevelopment plan for Birmingham, UK. The main part of the actual plan was the new Bullring Shopping Centre. ...

One surviving component of the 1960s development is the adjacent Rotunda. The Rotunda is an iconic, cylindrical tower block in Birmingham, England. ...

The Bullring's first year

In the new Bullring's first year in service, it recorded 36.5 million visitors, making it the most visited shopping centre outside the West End of London. This exceeded even the most optimistic predictions, and for the Bullring's supporters has justified the £530 million cost of building it. The new Bullring also holds the title of being Europe's largest city centre shopping centre. The term West End is most commonly used to refer to the West End of London, an area mostly in the City of Westminster and partly in the London Borough of Camden, in London, England. ...

External links

• Bullring shopping centre
• Birmingham markets
• OOM Gallery / Pogus Caesar photographs of Bullring development 2000 - 2003