Paradise Forum
Paradise Forum in central Birmingham, England is a 1960s arena containing bars, restaurants, small shops and stalls, and forming the main pedestrian thoroughfare between Centenary Square and the central shopping and business area of Birmingham. It is the iconic face of the Library.
To the west is Centenary Square, reached over a wide footbridge. To the south is the Birmingham Conservatoire. To the east is Chamberlain Square and the centre of Birmingham.
A Brutalist concrete jettied building of 1969-74 by John Madin Design Group, built in a large roundabout, Paradise Circus (or Paradise Circus Queensway) on the inner ring road, it contains most of the Birmingham Central Library on its floors above ground level. A glass roof provides light and shelter.
Paradise Forum stands on the site of Mason Science College, the precursor of Birmingham University, built 1880 and demolished 1962, and over part of a once longer Edmund Street.
In July 2006 the main pedestrian thoroughfare restaurants and small shops are all being refurbished and given a new image.
Sources
- Pevsner Architectural Guides - Birmingham, Andy Foster, 2005, ISBN 0-300-10731-5
- Location map from Birmingham Libraries site
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