The official start of the work to build the University of Birmingham's new auditorium will be marked by a groundbreaking event, led by Liz and Terry Bramall, major donors to the project.
Realising our vision for first-rate music facilities
The official start of the work to build the University of Birmingham’s new auditorium will be marked by a groundbreaking event, led by Liz and Terry Bramall, major donors to the project.
The event, which takes place on Friday 16 July at 2.30pm, will be an opportunity for leading supporters of the project to meet the architects and see the first phase of building work in progress.
The 450-seat concert hall, which will house the University’s Department of Music, will complete the redbrick semi-circle of buildings which have been at the heart of the University since 1909. This new facility will provide state-of-the-art accommodation for teaching and research within the department, of a kind that will match its international status.
After the event there will be an opportunity for invited guests to hear presentations by Glenn Howells Architects, who designed the auditorium, and the building contractors, Bam.
Professor John Whenham, Department of Music "The beginning of work on the Bramall Building is the first stage in the realisation of a long-held vision for first-rate music facilities at Birmingham. It is very exciting indeed and we are very grateful to everyone who has supported us and helped to realise our vision."
Helen Newman, from Glenn Howells Architects, said: ‘Marking the groundbreaking is a major milestone in the lifecycle of this project and takes us one step closer to realising our shared ambition to bring a world class facility to the University. We have an ambitious build programme in front of us which will result in a technologically advanced facility contained within a building that reflects its historical surroundings.’
At the degree congregation in the morning Liz and Terry Bramall will be inducted into the Chancellor’s Guild of Benefactors by Sir Dominic Cadbury in light of their transformational gift to the auditorium project. The Chancellor's Guild of Benefactors is the highest honour that is bestowed on a donor, and membership is open to those who make exceptional gifts to the University. To recognise these contributions the Chancellor presents members with special robes and their certificates at a formal ceremony.
