The scheme was abandoned after the arrival of World War II with only the Hall of Memory and half of the planned Baskerville House complete.

In 1991 the square was redesigned to complement the new International Convention Centre with new paving, railings and lamps designed by artist Tess Jaray, a fountain and several sculptures.

An iron merchant named Gibson purchased the land in 1821 and cut a canal arm through the site in order to increase his mill business on Cambridge Street.

In 1918, William Haywood published the book The Development of Birmingham within which he proposed a scheme to create a grand civic centre west of Victoria Square.

In 1926 a competition assessed by Henry Vaughan Lanchester was won by Maximilian Romanoff of Paris, but his scheme was judged too expensive and a basic plan was made by S. N. Cooke, A.J.

In 1936 after Winfields Rolling Mill ceased operations the Gibsons Arm could be infilled paving way for the construction of Baskerville House which was completed in 1938–40.

In 1958, Alwyn Sheppard Fidler produced a less formal layout with water features and a line of residential towers linked by a municipal office podium on the north side.

The city council used this as an opportunity to develop the western end of the square into the International Convention Centre and Birmingham Symphony Hall, which opened in 1991 and 1992 respectively.

A statue of King Edward VII by Albert Toft was relocated from Highgate Park to the square in November 2010 where it now stands outside Baskerville House.

Project Management and Quantity Surveying will be provided by Acivico Ltd and the contractor will be procured through the Constructing West Midlands (CWM) Framework agreement.

On 13 January 2015 five shortlisted proposals were chosen from 185 entries, these were from Atkins, Barton Willmore, Broadway Malyan, Graeme Massie Architects and Open Studio.

These features have resulted in the chopping down of a mature 90 year old London Plane tree sited on the edge of the square and Broad Street.

However the city council insisted it had to go to ensure the security arrangements for the square and the introduction of the metro line to Broad Street could both go ahead.

[6] Bus services stop frequently at the square, and in December 2019, the West Midlands Metro was extended to terminate at Library of Birmingham.