Designed in the Byzantine style by Aston Webb and Ingress Bell, it was constructed in red-brick and stone with buff terracotta dressings in 1905.

It consists of a domed axial Great Hall flanked by two quadrant ranges that terminate in wing pavilions capped by ribbed domes.

The main entrance is through a loggia leading to a galleried reception hall beneath the central dome and from there to the Great Hall: a vast tunnel-vaulted space with cross-vaulted lateral galleries, stained-glass and grotesque carvings.

It is a 100-metre clocktower built by Aston Webb and Ingress Bell in 1905-08 and is modelled on the Torre del Mangia in Sienna.

The tower is named after Joseph Chamberlain, the first university chancellor, and affectionately known as "Old Joe".

It consists of a concrete base, solid brick corners and a single tapering square section that terminates in a corbelled stage and lantern.

The tower was used for early radar experiments and the asteroid 10515 Old Joe is named after it.

It is a three-storey building with a flat roof and horizontal fenestration interrupted by a projecting central bay. The squat flat roof of the main lecture hall projects above the cornice line and the parapet features an ornamental balustrade.

It is a 16-storey 62-metre pair of glass and concrete towers connected by a central core on a podium base.

It was generally regarded as a brutalist eyesore because of the failure of its glazing system and the deterioration of its exposed concrete facade.

The glazing system was replaced, the internal space reconfigured and retail units added to the ground floor in 2006-08.

The podium now contains a Starbucks cafe bar and the Allardyce Nicol Studio Theatre.

It contains hi-tech research labs for the study of genomics, proteomics, metabolomics, structural biology and optical imaging.

It also contains the Centre for Systems Biology, the Birmingham Bimolecular Characterisation Facility, the Birmingham Advanced Light Microscopy, the Centre for Electron Microscopy and the Centre for Ornithology.

It was built as staff accommodation in the 1960's but is now a corporate hospitality and conference centre containing:

(1) The Astor Restaurant: a fine-dining restaurant on the 3rd floor;

(2) The Astor Suite: a series of private rooms available for seminars, meetings and conferences, the largest of which can hold 100 and the smallest 10;

(3) The Noble Room: a restaurant and bar that serves canteen meals but which can also be hired for weekend and evening functions for up to 400 guests

(4) Cafe Aroma: a cafe that serves speciality coffees, sandwiches and snacks

It was completed in 1938 and is typical of the period with a flat horizontal roof and sharply contrasting vertical portico.

It contains eateries and retail units, including:

Appleby Hairdressers, Rymans, Waterstones, Off the Wall (gifts & cards), Barclays, Natwest, Lloyds TSB, SW Optics (opticians), 19 Gales Farmshop, Salco Phones, The Food Court and Ginsters Bakery