Another piece of Birmingham's concrete past was consigned to the history books with the demolition of a 17-storey office tower at Edgbaston Shopping Centre.

The 52-metre tall structure stood as a gateway to the city centre at Five Ways since the 1960s.

But on Sunday, in a matter of seconds and amid a plume of dust, it was razed to the ground to make way for a £110 million retail and leisure development.

About 90kg of explosives was used in the "blowdown" of Calthorpe House, creating some 10,000 tonnes of debris.

Crowds of residents and other spectators gathered outside the exclusion zone to witness the building's dramatic last moments.

James Howard, strategic development manager for Coleman & Company which carried out the work, said: "Every demolition project poses its own individual challenges.

"In this instance, the site is surrounded by main trunk roads into the city centre and large prestigious buildings, including an operational hotel which the exclusion zone ran through.

"The blowdown marks the culmination of months of preparation and planning to make way for the next stage in Calthorpe Estates' impressive plans for the site."

The destruction of Calthorpe House marks the final stage in the demise of Edgbaston Shopping Centre.

It is to be replaced by a modern complex called Edgbaston Galleries featuring shops, a food hall, two hotels and new office and parking space. A new Calthorpe House is already being built on an adjacent site.

Construction of the new centre is scheduled to commence later this year, with the first phase due for completion in 2010.

Situated at the top end of Broad Street, there are few who are likely to be sorry to see the end of Edgbaston Shopping Centre.

The concrete complex has long appeared grey and dated - many seeing it as a monument to the architectural abuses of the past. One feature was that the centre regularly served as something of a wind tunnel.

Councillor Deirdre Alden (Con Edgbaston) said: "I came to Edgbaston as a student in 1970 and the centre was already there then.

"The whole of Five Ways was new at that time and exciting. But in recent years it has clearly become old and tired and past its best.

"It was terribly windy. With retrospect it wasn't terribly well designed. It was time for it to go. Its day had gone and what is replacing it will be a better gateway for Edgbaston. It will revitalise that area. It is the start of a new era for Edgbaston."

Apart from the wind howling through it, Edgbaston Shopping Centre will also be remembered for Horts Wine Bar, reputably Birmingham's first yuppie bar.

Until last year, it was a regular haunt for stylish city slickers working in offices around the area.

Coun Alden said: "It was ahead of its time. It was very popular and people would sit outside in the summer because it had a nice ambience."

The bar served its last glass of champagne last November.

Edgbaston Galleries is one part of a £350 million regeneration scheme by Calthorpe Estates, which owns a 610-acre swathe of Edgbaston.

David Povall, commercial director for Calthorpe Estates, said yesterday's demolition was an important milestone in the regeneration of the area, adding: "Edgbaston Galleries will enhance the area by creating a vibrant, quality environment for work and leisure whilst contributing to the wider continued urban renaissance of Birmingham."