A latte with your alienation?

When I was a postgraduate at the University of Birmingham a few years ago, my office overlooked the Muirhead Tower (Original Features, 24 September). It was generally regarded as the ugliest building on campus - so ugly that I'm told it won an award! Fortunately, much of it was hidden behind scaffolding due to the extensive refurbishment going on - and the building's alleged habit of dropping panes of glass on passers-by.

Inside was just as bad: tiny lifts, odd-shaped rooms and narrow corridors with bare concrete walls. The whole place felt hostile to human life. "Iconic" is not the word I would use to describe it, but I have not seen it recently. I suppose the inclusion of a Starbucks outlet instead of a proper common room tells us something about modern priorities.

Dave Kimber, St Neots.