The Rotunda is an iconic, cylindrical tower block in Birmingham, England. Built in 1964 as an office block during the post-war rebuilding of the Bull Ring, it was initially much derided. However, suggestions in the 1980s that it should be demolished when the Bull Ring was again redeveloped, met with equal, if not greater, hostility from the local populace. In 1974, a pub on the ground floor of the building was the site of one of the Birmingham pub bombings. A bank strongroom in the basement helps to support the weight of the building. In May 2004, its original architect Jim Roberts commented: