Auchinleck House was one of the most distinctive products of Birmingham’s bold post-war redevelopment and formed a key part of the transformation of Five Ways into a new western gateway to the city centre. The building stood above the Five Ways Shopping Centre at the Broad Street end of the famous roundabout in Edgbaston, marking the point where Birmingham’s commercial core began to push outward toward Edgbaston and Hagley Road.
The building was named after Field Marshal Sir Claude Auchinleck, one of Britain’s most senior military commanders of the Second World War. Auchinleck was present at the ceremonial laying of the foundation stone in 1962, which gave the building both its name and its public profile. At the time, it was common to associate major new civic and commercial buildings with nationally respected figures, and Auchinleck’s reputation as a war hero gave the project a sense of prestige and modern confidence.
Auchinleck House was completed in the early 1960s as part of the ambitious Five Ways redevelopment scheme. This was a period when Birmingham was reinventing itself with flyovers, underpasses, shopping precincts and modern office towers. Five Ways was designed as a major transport interchange and commercial hub linking Broad Street, Hagley Road and the city centre, and Auchinleck House was one of the first high-rise office buildings to define this new skyline.
For much of its life, the building was used as office space, particularly by Birmingham City Council and other public-sector departments. It became closely associated with council services such as Parks, Recreation and Community departments, and thousands of city employees passed through its doors over the decades. The building also featured public art and murals, which added to its identity as a product of Birmingham’s 1960s civic optimism.
By the early twenty-first century, however, Auchinleck House had become dated. Its office layout no longer matched modern working practices, and the wider Five Ways complex was in need of renewal. Rather than being completely demolished, the building was chosen for major redevelopment. The concrete structure was retained, but the exterior and interior were stripped back and completely transformed.
In 2016 the reborn tower reopened as the Park Regis Birmingham, a modern high-rise hotel. Although its appearance is now very different, the hotel still stands on the same structural core as Auchinleck House, making it a rare example of a 1960s Birmingham office tower being successfully repurposed rather than erased.
Auchinleck House therefore represents more than just a lost building. It was a symbol of Birmingham’s drive to modernise in the post-war era, part of the city’s westward expansion along Broad Street, and now lives on in a new form as one of the city’s landmark hotels overlooking Five Ways.
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