Building Brum: Westside meets Eastside

It's not every day that you get the opportunity to stand on one of Birmingham's tallest buildings, let alone two of them! So when I was asked by Steve Townsend and Ben McPhee from Associated Architects (and all-round badass photographers) if I would care to join them for a spot of 'rooftopping' - I said 'Yes Please!'.

The event would see a group of Birmingham's most talented photographers... and me... scale the McLaren Building and Alpha Tower, two landmarks of the city skyline, to capture the dramatic transformation that both sides of the city are going through. Judging by the sheer amount of cranes littering the horizon, there is a lot of development going on!

Associated Architects play host to 'Building Brum' a series of networking events exploring the built environment and celebrating our great city. This particular project, as you have probably guessed by the title, aims to bring together the two sides of the city and look at how each site has evolved and how they will continue to progress in the future. 

The event culminates in a photographic exhibition featuring work from a plethora of local photographers including Kris Askey @krisaskey, Tim Cornbill @timcornbill, Ben McPhee @benmcphee, Fay Loewy @Faylouiseloewy, Fraser McGee @frasermcgeefoto, Beth Astington @bethastington, Martin O’Callaghan @ocuk, Jon Crampton @joncrampton, Rachel Mason @heyrachelmason, Matt Beach @matt_beach_photography and Verity Milligan @veritymilligan (all of which are well worth a 'follow' on Instagram!)

As for the views, well they were amazing and I don't think my images do them justice! However, Instagram has been awash with brilliant images from fellow photographers - so be sure to search the hashtag #westsidemeetseastide_bham for more! I'm always inspired by how many great photographers there are in Birmingham and to watch them battle through the wind and the rain on top of Alpha Tower in the dark, was a testament to how great they all are (and embarrassingly, I had packed up a long time before them!).

A huge thank you goes out to Steve Townsend, Ben McPhee, all at Associated Architects, Bruntwood, Alpha Works, McLaren Building, Alpha Tower and anyone else that played a part in making this happen, thank you!