This object has been a puzzle for a couple of years. It’s been constructed on land alongside an old railway siding adjacent to Small Heath Bridge Birmingham B11. This picture was taken from a train on the way into Birmingham Moor Street.
It’s pointing vaguely westwards, i.e which is the direction the camera is pointing in. The reverse side is a highly polished surface (stainless steel?). It looks like it might be a solar collector of some kind but there are no power cables or fluid/gas pipes that I can see so it remains a mystery.
Any offers of what it might be?
Ronnie Soak
Really mysterious.
Sometimes, constructions like this are erected to long-term-test building materials for even bigger structures (think: stadiums, opera houses).
The structure is very complex in shape (very asymetrical). So I think it’s definitely more than an advertising board.
Mappa Mercia
It’s definitely not an advertising hoarding as it’s not vertical. Thanks for the suggestion of a test rig
Mappa Mercia
I’ve just had a brainwave based on your suggestion of a test rig. I think it might be a test rig for the cladding that is about to put all over Birminghan New Street Station as part of a multimillion pound refurb
tom
I think it’s a wheeze to test the imagination of OSM tag-creation enthusiasts.
Dave Harte
New st. cladding. Put there in 2010 so councillors could pose with it: http://www.birminghampost.net/news/west-midlands-transport-news/2010/03/15/huge-replica-model-shows-how-birmingham-new-street-station-will-look-65233-26037151/