National Trust Offices at Birmingham Roundhouse

Next to the New Main Line Canal, the Grade II* Roundhouse is a horseshoe-shaped building, constructed in 1874 as stables and stores serving as the base for the City’s lamplighters and the horses of the Public Works department. It was revived thanks to a pioneering joint venture between the Canal & River Trust and the National Trust. Birmingham Roundhouse is now a lively new hub for city exploration by foot, bike or boat, including a visitor welcome and exhibition space, creative office space, a café and a programme of events including hidden history, walks, kayak tours and wellbeing activities. An enterprise community is being created, offering lettable space to likeminded businesses, creating an exciting cultural destination at the heart of the Ladywood community. The National Trust has relocated their Birmingham Office, becoming an ‘anchor tenant’. Their new office includes a ‘touchdown’ style open plan working space that is used principally by NT staff based in the Midlands – but is a popular base for their national staff too. There are no ‘owned’ desks – all working areas support Agile work modes of project interactive, social interactive, focussed work and formal meetings – with an adjoining meeting space. A flexible space with carefully considered ‘smart’ furniture, was created by designing clean, simple joinery additions whilst respecting the existing industrial space. A contemporary take on the historical horse stalls creates beautifully crafted oak divisions, soft furnishings and plants provides working spaces and is proving to be a very popular regional hub and an exemplar for other National Trust Office refurbishments. Staff are encouraged to make the most of the unique location by going for walking meetings along the canals.