The Birmingham and District Architectural Association was formed in 1874 for younger members of the profession.
The two were closely related, with a member of the senior society being elected as the President of the junior grouping, and by 1895 the two had combined into a single organisation under the Birmingham Architectural Association name.
[1] The Birmingham School of Architecture can trace its origins to a series of classes held by the association in 1908.
In that year the name of the association was changed to the Birmingham and Five Counties Architectural Association to reflect its representation in the counties of Warwickshire, Staffordshire, Shropshire, Worcestershire and Herefordshire – the area of the modern West Midlands Region.
[1] In 1968, the Royal Institute of British Architects reorganised into a comprehensive regional structure.