Although Birmingham in England has existed as a settlement for over a thousand years, today's city is overwhelmingly a product of the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries, with little surviving from its early history. As it has expanded, it has acquired a variety of architectural styles. Buildings of most modern architectural styles in the United Kingdom are located in Birmingham. In recent years, Birmingham was one of the first cities to exhibit the blobitecture style with the construction of the Selfridges store at the Bullring Shopping Centre.

Birmingham is a young city, having grown rapidly as a result of the Industrial Revolution starting in the 18th century. There are very few buildings remaining in Birmingham prior to this. Further loss has been demonstrated through the effects of war and redevelopment, especially following World War II. Industrialisation and planning policies have also led to Victorian buildings being demolished but the prosperity brought with it led to some of the city's grandest buildings being constructed, although in turn many of these are being or have been demolished. Industrialisation and the growth of the city led to its boundaries expanding and the city acquired other forms of architecture. As of April 2006, there are 1,946 listed buildings in Birmingham, thirteen scheduled monuments and 27 conservation areas.

Many well-known architects come from Birmingham. From the Victorian era, Yeoville Thomason, J. A. Chatwin and Martin & Chamberlain made a big impact on the city. In the early 20th century, Harry Weedon designed over 300 Odeon cinemas across the country. Hurley Robinson also designed numerous cinemas around the United Kingdom. William Alexander Harvey played a key part in the design and construction of Bournville. In the postwar period, John Madin became a prolific architect and more recently, Glenn Howells and Ken Shuttleworth have made their mark on the international stage.

Medieval architecture

Although place-name evidence indicates that Birmingham was established by the early 7th century, the exact location of the Anglo-Saxon settlement is uncertain and no known trace of it survives. The modern settlement of Birmingham was established by Peter de Birmingham in 1166 as a planned town around the triangular marketplace that would become the Bull Ring. Traces of this 12th century settlement survive in the foundations of the Birmingham Manor House, now buried under the Birmingham Wholesale Markets, and in Norman fabric from the original church of St Martin in the Bull Ring, discovered when the church was rebuilt in the 1870s.

The Birmingham Plateau during the medieval period was heavily wooded but poorly supplied with building stone, so the architecture of the early town was dominated by timber framing, with dark wooden structures in complex patterns infilled with lightly coloured plaster. As late as the 19th century guidebooks would compare Birmingham's surviving medieval streetscape with those of Shrewsbury or Chester. Distinctive local styles of wall framing emerged, including the use of close studding and decorative braces within panels in herringbone and quadrant patterns, exemplified by the early 16th century Golden Lion Inn, which survives in Cannon Hill Park.

The only complete surviving building from the medieval town of Birmingham is The Old Crown in Deritend – built in the late 15th century as the guildhall and school of the Guild of St. John, Deritend – but many more examples survive from surrounding settlements since absorbed by the city. The oldest to have been securely dated is the Lad in the Lane in Bromford, which has been shown by dendrochronology to have been built in the spring of 1400, though the architectural style of the box-framed Selly Manor and the cruck-framed Minworth Greaves suggest they may have earlier 14th century origins.

The Stone public house in Northfield and Stratford House (1601) in Sparkbrook are also other examples of such buildings. St Edburgha's Church in Yardley dates to the 13th century, and is another relic from this period., there is also St Laurence in Northfield.

Other buildings from this period include the 15th century "Saracen's Head" and "Old Grammar School" in Kings Norton, Handsworth Old Town Hall, built in 1460; an example of early cruck timber-frame construction, and Blakesley Hall in Yardley, which was built by Richard Smalbroke in 1590.

The 17th century saw the transition from timber frame to brick and stone construction. An early and prominent example of this in Birmingham is Aston Hall, which was completed in 1635 for Sir Thomas Holte. It was designed by John Thorpe and features the Jacobean style, which was popular amongst large buildings of this type during the 17th century.

Sutton Coldfield began to expand during the 15th, 16th, and 17th centuries as a result of investment by Bishop Vesey. The architect Sir William Wilson made his impact on the streetscape in the area as well as other towns and cities throughout the country. As well as designing Four Oaks Hall for Lord Ffolliot, he also designed Moat House for him and his wife. This was completed in 1680.The Royal Town of Sutton Coldfield - A Commemorative History, Douglas V. Jones, 1994, Westwood Press () Four Oaks Hall no longer survives, however, Moat House remains untouched with listed building status.

Georgian and Regency architecture

Birmingham began to expand during the 18th century due to the Industrial Revolution and the prosperity that it brought with it. The expansion of the town's industry brought industrialists to the town, and they constructed their own houses as well as modifying existing ones. Communities within Birmingham's boundaries also began to expand, resulting in the construction of houses and public facilities such as churches.

As the population of the town increased, attendance at churches increased and this led to the construction of St. Philip's Cathedral, which was built in 1715 as a parish church and designed by Thomas Archer. It is in the heart of the city, with glass windows by Edward Burne-Jones. Another church that was built during the 18th century is St Paul's Church which was designed by Roger Eykyn of Wolverhampton and completed in 1779, although the tower was built in 1823 to a design by Francis Goodwin. Surrounding St Paul's Church is St Paul's Square which is the last remaining Georgian square in the city.

In 1704, the Job Marston Chapel (now the Church of the Ascension) in Hall Green, which is believed to have been designed by Sir William Wilson, was completed. Also in Hall Green is Sarehole Mill which dates to 1542, although the current structure is thought to have been built in 1771. The building remains today and is Grade II listed. In Edgbaston is Edgbaston Hall, now used by Edgbaston Golf Club, which was built in 1717 by Sir Richard Gough. In 1758, John Perrott built the high Perrott's Folly in Ladywood which now stands as a local landmark.

Perry Bridge, built in 1711 in Perry Barr to replace an earlier bridge, is another example of a structure built during this time. The industrial expansion of Birmingham attracted industrialists to the city and Soho House, in Handsworth, completed in 1796 to a design by brothers Samuel Wyatt and James Wyatt as the home for the wealthy industrialist Matthew Boulton, is a well-preserved example of what the industrialists constructed for themselves. The Industrial Revolution did not just attract wealthy industrialists to Birmingham. The need to house the many industrial workers who flocked to the city from elsewhere in the United Kingdom during the Industrial Revolution led to the construction of many streets and terraces of back-to-back houses, some of which were later to become inner-city slums. Remaining examples of inner-city domestic buildings are located on Kingston Row, which was built around 1780 and modernised by J. A. Maudsley, the City Architect of Birmingham, in 1969. A later example of back-to-back houses are the Birmingham Back to Backs, the last remaining back-to-back houses in the city, which were built in 1830, and recently renovated and turned into a museum run by the National Trust. Many residential properties dating from around this period are listed buildings.

Attendance at churches still increased and parish churches across the town were commissioned for construction. In 1823, Francis Goodwin's Holy Trinity Church, Bordesley was completed. The Commissioner's church is of Gothic architecture, which was popular during this time.

Baroque architecture and Neoclassical architecture were also becoming popular in Birmingham during this time and early buildings which used the Neoclassical building style include the Birmingham Proof House by John Horton which was built in 1813, although Jacobean style gates were added in 1883. The style became predominantly popular in the centre of the town during the 1820s in a variety of building usages, which is reflected in Regency House on Waterloo Street. Although the architect is unknown, they are believed to have been influenced by Sir John Soane. The building features copies of the Corinthian columns used at the Tower of the Winds in Athens. Domestic buildings also used this style of architecture, such as the houses at 116-120 Moseley Road which were also built during the 1820s. The two houses feature stucco fronts with unusually large bay windows. St Thomas's Church, which was bombed during World War II, was built in 1827 and is an example of neoclassical architecture being used in the design of churches in Birmingham. It was designed by Henry Hutchinson of Rickman and Hutchinson and features a tower and quadrant Ionic porticoes.

Victorian architecture

Victorian classicism

The financial benefits of the Industrial Revolution provided Victorian Birmingham with an extensive building programme, with the construction of elaborate churches and public buildings. The use of neoclassical architecture was carried on into this era. The most well-known example of the use of this style in Birmingham is Birmingham Town Hall which was designed by Joseph Hansom and Edward Welch, and completed in 1834. In 1835, Charles Edge was commissioned to repair weaknesses to the design of the building and was also commissioned for the extension of the building in 1837 and again in 1850. Edge was also responsible for the Market Hall in the Bull Ring which was completed in 1835, as well as many classical shop frontages and office buildings on Bennett's Hill and the surrounding area. Railways arrived in Birmingham in 1837 at Vauxhall station. One year later, Philip Hardwick's Curzon Street railway station opened and it remains as the world's oldest surviving piece of monumental railway architecture. Designed in the neoclassical style, it was built as a copy of the Euston Arch, also by Hardwick, in London. The building ceased use as a railway station in 1966 and is disused. Many other railway stations throughout the city were built of red brick and terracotta. The construction of Birmingham Snow Hill station led to the construction of the Great Western Arcade in 1876, which was designed by W. H. Ward.

Despite major architects making impacts across the country, locally born or resident architects were the more dominant group in Birmingham. Yeoville Thomason, who was born in Edinburgh to a Birmingham family, designed many important buildings with the most significant being the Museum & Art Gallery and the Council House, which were completed in 1879. His range of designs included the Singers Hill Synagogue and a variety of offices for banks, as well as the original Lewis's Department Store, which was completed in 1889 as Birmingham's first concrete and iron building, on Corporation Street.

The Gothic Revival