Joseph Chamberlain is responsible for Birmingham University as we know it today. This was a civic achievement on a grand scale. The Chamberlain Tower dominates the University skyline and was designed by Aston Webb the same man responsible for the Victoria Law Courts. Much of the architecture surrounding the tower is Byzantium in style. The grand buildings and Byzantine style would have developed further if it were not for lack of funds.

The University grounds are pleasant to walk through and you cannot help but admire the buildings with their ornate style and decoration. The doorway of the Great Hall depicts the statues of Beethoven, Virgil, Michelangelo, Plato, Shakespeare, Newton, Watt, Faraday and Darwin. The library building is impressive as are the many of the buildings within the University grounds. It is here that modern architecture meets with old. Many of the new modern buildings seem out of place but the lay out of the campus and the open spaces between the buildings take away most of the character clashes you would expect had they been placed closer together.

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