The construction of the new Assay Office Birmingham building is starting to take shape and the plans and building models are now beginning to look very real.
The steel frames for the building are slowly changing the landscape of the Jewellery Quarter in the area of Icknield Street.
The new site of Assay Office Birmingham is located within the St George’s development, fronting Icknield Street.
Assay Office Birmingham is one of Birmingham’s oldest institutions and is also one of the busiest Assay Offices in the UK. It has a statutory duty to hallmark precious metals such as jewellery and silverware.
Assay Office Birmingham was founded in 1773 by the leading industrialist, Matthew Boulton and has been located in its current Grade II listed building on Newhall Street for 137 years.
The building has been extended and added to several times during its history and is now a maze of different working areas.
This has necessitated the move into a new building to allow Assay Office Birmingham to continue to grow and develop as a modern, commercial organisation.
The new building will offer better facilities and personal security to staff and customers and will also enable wider public access to the resources, which Assay Office Birmingham has to offer in terms of its private Library and Silver Collection.
