Editing Bull Ring, Birmingham (section)

== The first Bull Ring Centre ==
{{More citations needed section|date=July 2010}}
[[File:Old Bullring.jpg|thumb|300px|The Old Bull Ring Centre with bull mural, with markets in the foreground, and Rotunda in the background]]
In 1955, shops began to close down as the redevelopment of the area was proposed. Plans drawn up showed the creation of new roads and the demolition of old ones and all the buildings on the proposed site. Eleven companies submitted plans for the new Bull Ring however, Birmingham City Council elected to go for the proposals submitted by [[John Laing Group|John Laing & Sons]]<ref>Ritchie, p. 140</ref> which used substantial material from designs by [[Jim Roberts (architect)|James A. Roberts]]. Demolition began in the late-1950s beginning with the demolition of the old fish market. Construction commenced in the summer of 1961.

The outdoor market area was opened in June 1962 with 150 stalls within the new Bull Ring, which was still under construction.

In 1964, construction of the Birmingham Bull Ring Centre neared completion. It was a mixture of traditional open-air market stalls and a new indoor shopping centre, the first indoor city-centre shopping centre in the UK.<ref name="Remaking Birmingham" /> It was opened by the [[Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh]] alongside [[Alderman Frank Price]] and Sir [[Herbert Manzoni]] on 29 May 1964 and had cost an estimated £8 million. The shopping centre covered {{convert|23|acre|m2}} and had {{convert|350000|sqft|abbr=on}} of retail trade area. Shortly after opening, the complex was visited by [[Elizabeth II|Queen Elizabeth II]].

On the lower level of the shopping centre was the Bull Ring Bus Station which was used mostly by Midland Red and its successors.  Midland Red West operated a travel centre there until closure of the bus station.

The market area was submerged and had approximately 150 stalls with the majority selling food. It was split by a large road which connected to the inner ring road which was built from 1967 till 1971. There was direct access to [[Birmingham New Street railway station|New Street station]] and the market area could be easily accessed from [[Birmingham Moor Street railway station|Moor Street station]]. A [[multi-storey car park]] was also located within the complex with 500 spaces for cars. Access to roads by foot could be achieved through a network of subways. As part of the development, a nine-storey office block designed by [[Jim Roberts (architect)|James A. Roberts]] was built. This was attached to the multi-storey car park. The floors were of reinforced concrete, 12&nbsp;inches in thickness. A bold illuminated sign by D.R.U. was located on the end wall, facing the city centre.<ref>{{cite book|author=Douglas Hickman|title=Birmingham|year=1970|publisher=Studio Vista Ltd.|page=71}}</ref>

Jamaica Row and Spiceal Street had been demolished and removed during the development, being replaced by a submerged market area.

There were 140 shop units located on {{convert|350000|sqft}} of room on a {{convert|4|acre|m2|adj=on}} site. There were also 19 escalators, 40 lifts, 96 public doors, six miles (10&nbsp;km) of air ducting and {{convert|33|mi}} of pipe work.<ref name="Decker">{{cite book|author=Deckker, Thomas|title=The Modern City Revisited|year=2000|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=0-419-25640-7}}</ref> The shopping centre was air conditioned and had [[music]] played to create an intimate atmosphere within the building.

The remains of old Market Hall were demolished in 1963 and replaced by Manzoni Gardens; an open space designed for shoppers to relax. In the 1970s a [[King Kong statue|statue of King Kong]] stood there.

A mural of a bull was located on the side of the building as visitors entered via the road splitting the market area.

The 1960s' Bull Ring Centre had problems from the beginning and was very much a product of its era. At the time of its opening it was considered the height of modernity, but higher rentals within the shopping centre meant that traders turned away from it. The public were also less inclined to use the subways and escalators, which stopped working regularly. Also, 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 its isolation within ringroads connected only by pedestrian subways. It was, by the 1980s, much disliked by the public and contributed to the popular conception that Birmingham was a concrete jungle of shopping centres and motorways.<ref>{{cite news|title=Historian says Bullring lacks heart|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/west_midlands/3078514.stm|publisher=news.bbc.co.uk|access-date=27 February 2013|archive-date=24 June 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060624023041/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/west_midlands/3078514.stm|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2015, [[Historic England]] included the four bull ring murals, designed by [[Trewin Copplestone]], which decorated the outside walls of the shopping centre, in a list of public works that have been lost, sold, stolen or destroyed.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Hurst|first1=Ben|title=Search launched for missing nine ton Bull Ring bulls|url=http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/search-launched-missing-nine-ton-10614608|access-date=27 December 2015|work=Birmingham Mail|date=17 December 2015|archive-date=22 December 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151222001013/http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/search-launched-missing-nine-ton-10614608|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Help Find Our Missing Art|date=15 December 2015 |url=http://www.historicengland.org.uk/news-and-features/missing-public-art/|publisher=Historic England|access-date=27 December 2015|archive-date=21 December 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151221104435/http://www.historicengland.org.uk/news-and-features/missing-public-art/|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Rotunda===
{{Main|Rotunda (Birmingham)}}

A part of the James A. Roberts design for the first Bull Ring Shopping Centre included a 12-storey circular office block. However, upon revising his design this was increased to 25 storeys. As a result of this, plans for a revolving rooftop restaurant and a cinema were dropped. This became the [[Rotunda (Birmingham)|Rotunda]] and is a surviving component of the 1960s development. Due to problems during construction, the building never reached the intended height. Although never used, the revolving section remains in place due to the late decision to drop the restaurant from the plans.

The Rotunda has been converted into apartments by developers [[Urban Splash]]. Although located close to the development and constructed at the same time as the 1960s centre, it was not part of the development despite being included in the design.{{Clarify|date=March 2008}} A poem is engraved into one of the stones in the wall of the Bullring dedicated to the Rotunda. The public space to the front of both malls facing the High Street and New Street is named Rotunda Square after the building.

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