Exciting mix of old and new at city’s former Assay Office

WITH its mix of old fittings and brand new designs, could this be the coolest new office space in Birmingham right now?

Home to the city’s renowned Assay Office for the best part of 150 years, the Grade II listed building in Newhall Street has undergone a wholesale revamp to be reborn as Assay Studios.

It has an interesting mix including a beautiful old fireplace and “out there” contemporary features such as the mobile desk space, with the project aiming to combine the traditional elements of the 1870s building with contemporary features.

The development, carried out by property group TCN, is aimed squarely at Birmingham’s creative and tech companies and has already signed up John Lewis as one of its first tenants.

The company has taken space for its new innovation hub in Birmingham which will work on new technologies and ways of working, complementing its flagship store in Grand Central.

Jujhar Singh, lead engineer of John Lewis Tech Hub, said: “TCN has created an energising, imaginative and inspiring place, marrying the heritage features of a 19th cen- tury building with modern finishes and facilities.

“It’s a place that we’re very much looking forward to working in and being a part of a creative hub.”

Also moving into the building is the Birmingham office of global PR and communications agency Grayling, food delivery app Deliveroo, media and digital recruitment firms Emerald Technology and Weareaspire and design consultancy Green Room Retail. TCN, which develops and operates creative work spaces, bought the Assay Office in 2014 ahead of a move by the marking agency to another site within Birmingham’s historic Jewellery Quarter.

A second phase of redevelopment will see 32 apartments built on the rear of the building in Charlotte Street.

Birmingham practice Glenn Howells Architects has designed the new-look building while property agency CBRE is marketing the space.