Photographic Works is an award-winning residential development in Birmingham’s historic Jewellery Quarter, comprising apartments and duplex townhouses arranged around landscaped podium gardens. The project occupies the former site of Munn’s Brothers Photographic Processing Works, and its architectural identity was shaped to acknowledge this industrial history while introducing a confident contemporary character.

CubeX Industries manufactured approximately 100 m² of charcoal-coloured UHPC façade panels and coping stones, developed to provide depth, texture and a distinctive visual rhythm across the building. Two complementary surface treatments were used: an acid-etched pattern and a strongly defined ribbed relief, creating a façade that responds differently to changing light and viewing angles.

The complexity of the architectural arrangement required approximately 80 individual moulds, demonstrating CubeX’s ability to manage extensive variation while maintaining consistency in colour, dimensions and surface quality. The fluidity and precision of UHPC allowed the mould patterns to be captured with a high level of definition, enabling the concrete to serve not merely as a construction material, but as a carefully controlled architectural finish.

UHPC was particularly suited to this application because its high strength supports relatively thin, refined façade elements, while its dense and low-permeability structure provides excellent resistance to moisture, weathering and gradual deterioration. These qualities help protect the clarity of the surface pattern and the depth of the charcoal finish over an extended service life, reducing future maintenance demands while preserving the architectural character of the development.