Renaissance Plaque: Worcester and Birmingham Canal Company Headquarters

The building on Gas Street, nestled within Birmingham’s historic Gas Street Basin, boasts a significant past deeply intertwined with the city’s industrial heartland and its canal network. 

Strategic command centre
This Grade II listed building, located at 46 Gas Street, was once the headquarters of the Worcester and Birmingham Canal Company.  Constructed in the early 19th century, around the same time the Worcester and Birmingham Canal was completed in 1815, the building served as a vital administrative hub for the canal company. It was strategically positioned at the nexus of the Worcester and Birmingham Canal and the Birmingham Canal Navigations (BCN) Main Line. This area was a bustling commercial centre, where goods were transferred between the two canal systems. The building would have been where toll money was collected from boats passing through the nearby Worcester Bar (the historic point of contention between the rival canal companies, later replaced by a lock). It was a hive of activity, with boats passing underneath an archway within the building itself, carrying materials such as coal into the city.

Decline and dormancy
As canals declined in favour of railways and later road transport in the 20th century, the building’s original purpose diminished. The vaults where tolls were collected were eventually bricked up in the 1970s, and the building likely served various purposes, possibly as office accommodation, before falling into disuse.

A brief French renaissance
In the mid-2010s, the independent French restaurant group Bistrot Pierre identified the historic building as an ideal, “quirky” location for their first Birmingham venture. Recognising its unique character and heritage, they embarked on a substantial refurbishment project. The aim was to sympathetically transform the former canal company headquarters into a modern French bistro while retaining and highlighting its period features. This involved reopening the original archway with a glass front, allowing passers-by to view the restaurant’s wine cellar within the old canal vaults. Original sash windows, a wrought iron staircase, and a brass door handle ornately engraved with the number 46 were all meticulously restored. Even a large safe that once held canal toll money was converted into a cosy dining alcove.

Bistrot Pierre at Gas Street officially opened its doors in July 2016 and closed in March 2025.  It is anticipated that the site will re-open as a Joule’s Brewery taproom.