- Digbeth Institute
-
HMV Institute 
Digbeth Institute BuildingLocation 78 Digbeth High Street, Birmingham,B5 6DY England Coordinates 52°28′32.13″N 1°53′14.55″W / 52.4755917°N 1.887375°WCoordinates: 52°28′32.13″N 1°53′14.55″W / 52.4755917°N 1.887375°W Type Live music, nightclub Genre(s) Music, Comedy Owner hmv Capacity 2,400 Website http://venues.meanfiddler.com/hmv-institute/home Digbeth Institute is a civic building in Digbeth, Birmingham, England.
It is now operated as the hmv Institute, a 2,400 capacity music venue. It has three rooms: the main auditorium with a 1,500 capacity, the smaller library which holds up to 600 people and the 300-capacity 'The Temple'.
Contents
History
Designed by Arthur Harrison, it was officially opened January 16, 1908 by the wife of the Pastor of Carrs Lane Church, John Henry Jowett,[1] as an institutional church attached to Carr's Lane Congregational Church. In the week that followed, it hosted a variety of acts. The area which surrounded it was predominantly slums and industrial.[1]
In 1954, the building was put up for sale by the trustees as they felt the building was not needed for its originally intended use. It was bought by Birmingham City Council in 1955 for £65,000 and was used as a civic hall.
People known to have made speeches at the Digbeth Institute include Neville Chamberlain, Henry Usborne, Florence L. Barclay and Herbert Hensley Henson.
In 1987, the building was used as a film studio by the Birmingham Film and Video Workshop for the Channel 4 film 'Out Of Order'. The venue later appeared onscreen again, when it played a part as one of the main locations in the feature film 'Lycanthropy', filmed in 2005-2006.
During the 2000s the venue was called The Sanctuary and was the original home of Godskitchen. It also played host to famous club nights such as Atomic Jam, Uproar, Slinky, Sundissential, Athletico, Ramshackle, Insurrection, Inukshuk, Atomic Jam and Panic.
Fugazi performed a sold-out concert at the venue as part of their last ever UK tour, in support of The Argument on October 22, 2002 which was later released as Volume 28 of their Fugazi Live Series.
Many influential hip hop artists performed at the venue including Redman and Keith Murray
Reopening
After a £4 million refurbishment, the hmv institute reopened its doors on 18 September 2010.[2] The reopening featured performances on the night from Guillemots' frontman Fyfe Dangerfield and Ned's Atomic Dustbin.[3]
Exterior
The exterior is a mixture of red brick and grey terracotta. The grey terracotta forms the more ornate features of the façade including the three towers, the 1.65 metre tall allegorical figures and the window and door frames. The six allegorical figures are believed to be the work of John Evans, the chief modeller for Gibbs & Canning. Two hold open books and two have musical instruments (a third's instrument is lost). The final figure holds a purse, representing public charity.[4] The drawings of the building by Arthur Harrison do not include the figures, indicating that these were probably added in 1909.[5] The building is Grade B locally listed.[6]
References
- ^ a b Kenneth Scott Latourette (1958). Christianity in a Revolutionary Age: A History of Christianity in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries in Europe. Harper.
- ^ Birmingham's newest music venue HMV Institute ready to open its doors Birmingham Post: Accessed Oct 10th, 2010
- ^ Birmingham venue set to reopen its doors NME: Accessed Oct 10th, 2010
- ^ "Allegorical Figures". National Recording Project. Public Monument and Sculpture Association. http://pmsa.cch.kcl.ac.uk/BM/WMbiBIxx117.htm. Retrieved 26 October 2010.
- ^ George Thomas Noszlopy (1998). Public Sculpture of Birmingham: Including Sutton Coldfield. Liverpool University Press. ISBN 0853236925.
- ^ Birmingham City Council - List of Locally Listed Buildings
Categories:- Nightclubs in Birmingham, West Midlands
- Buildings and structures completed in 1908
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