University Station

The new University railway station serves the University of Birmingham, Birmingham Women’s Hospital, and the Queen Elizabeth Hospital. The station is the only main line railway station in Great Britain built specifically to serve a university. It is one of the busiest railway stations in the West Midlands region; as of 2024, 3.5 million people use the station annually.

The £56m project included the construction of a new, larger station building at the north end of the platforms, widening of the platforms to alleviate crowding during peak times, a footbridge over the canal linking the new station to the university campus and a new public space around the approach to the new building.

EH Smith were pleased to work with Associated Architects to propose a bespoke brick blend which was also used on the Molecular Sciences Building referencing the local vernacular of bold, red, waterstruck bricks. We then worked closely with Ibstock Futures (previously Telling) as the bricks were cast into GRC panels offsite to speed up the time required on-site.