The Bullring, Birmingham

Selfridges

Birmingham's incredible construction, the Bullring opened in September 2003. The £500 million shopping complex has completely transformed the city centre, being labelled a "big sexy giant" by the company's chief executive!

But it's far more than just another new shopping centre (although shopaholics will find plenty to keep them happy!). It now offers lots of open space, walkways, event areas, improved public transport links and a huge car park. 
    
Fast Facts 

  • It provides an area of 110,000 square metres for over 100 shops including Selfridges, Next and Benetton.
  • The 'skin' was made up of 15,000 spun aluminium discs.
  • It offers car parking for 3,200 cars.
  • It has been built where the 1960s Bullring shopping centre once stood.
  • The Bullring is part of 40 acres in Birmingham's city centre that is being redeveloped by The Birmingham Alliance. That's equivalent to 26 football pitches!
  • Redevelopments are injecting over £800 million into the local economy, and creating 8,000 jobs.
  • It took less than eight months to remove the old Bullring. The building of the new one took slightly longer! The old concrete - nearly 65,000 tonnes of it - has been recycled as structural fill material.
  • It took up to 11 large excavators at any one time to get the job done.
  • Nearly 500 people worked on the construction of the Bullring.
  • There were around 50 different machines working on site at any one time!

To find out more go to http://www.bullring.co.uk/