The (former) Union Club, Colmore Row, Birmingham. Yeoville Thomason (1826-1901), altered and rebuilt by Thomason himself in 1885, to "match the new street line" (Foster 96). Faced with Derbyshire limestone. "Perhaps his finest building," says Andy Foster, pointing out the features so typical of this architect — the kind of rounded corner seen also at the ends of the Council Office, and "rich detailing" (96), with a deeply-carved leafy frieze and large thickly bearded facemasks as keystones. Definitely a men's club, then! The listing text also draws attention to the "arched lights, balconies, ... richly carved spandrels.... and blocking course with urns." But the special quality of the building is harder to pin down. In his introduction, Foster calls it "opulent and subtle" (15).
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Related Material
- Article on the Union Club in the Illustrated London News (12 June 1869): 60.
- Thomason's Council House, Birmingham
References
"85, 87 and 89, Colmore Row B3." British Listed Buildings.. Web. 5 September 2012.
Foster, Andy. Birmingham. Pevsner Architectural Guides. New Haven & London: Yale University Press, 2005. Print.
Last modified 24 December 2015