Diabetic coma spurred architect to reach for sky
Designer of proposed Octagon building reveals moment that changed his life
THE designer of Birmingham’s proposed new Octagon supertower has revealed how plunging into a diabetic coma gave him the ability to reach for the sky.
If plans for the giant Paradise scheme off Broad Street are approved next month, the 49-storey building will be 11ft taller than the city’s 499ft BT Tower.
Now 46, Brummie architect Dav Bansal’s spirit of adventure began with a life-changing moment in 1992.
“I don’t know what caused it, but when I was 19 and a first-year student at Leicester’s De Montfort University, I fell into a diabetic coma and was diagnosed with Type 1,” he says.
“It made me realise that you should not think too hard and hold yourself back, and that unless you do something that you enjoy life will just pass you by.”
Following seven years of training, Mr Bansal later helped to remodel Birmingham’s most famous 20th century building.
“We removed half of the concrete from the Rotunda and replaced it with carbon fibre to create residential apartments,” he says. “I was starting a family, but young and eager to learn.” Now a partner with city-based Glenn Howells Architects, Mr Bansal hopes his Octagon will earn the right to be labelled the city’s “third genuine landmark building” after the Rotunda itself and the Alpha Tower.
“You can’t just create a landmark, iconic building – the Rotunda has earned its iconic status, instantly recognisable and very dynamic in terms of shape,” he says.
“Octagon will be the same on all sides and have little wind resistance compared to a rectangle – and what could have been the back of Paradise will still look like an entrance. You have to ask yourself three questions: ‘Is it buildable, viable and maintainable?’ but I think we’ve created a building that will feel like Birmingham.
“The 25-year life expectancy of the fittings will prolong the life of the building.”
Every flat will have a panoramic view and the pressurised core will extract smoke in the unlikely event of a fire. Workers will be suspended in a topdown cradle to clean the windows, which could be left open without it raining in.
The height of each window will mask interior clutter like sofas without spoiling an exterior appearance further protected by universal blinds.
Mr Bansal’s family originates from India, but then constructed “life-saving” roads in Tanzania in Eastern Africa before events in countries such as Uganda saw them relocate. Once in Birmingham, Mr
Bansal’s engineer father worked in a nuts and bolts factory while his economist mother joined a Smethwick foundry before teaching.
His father founded an importexport business to supply materials to Tanzania but lost everything in an economic crisis, became homeless and had to start again.
“That’s why my dad’s not fazed by anything,” says Mr Bansal, who has two younger sisters. “Even at the age of 70, he doesn’t worry about Covid19.”
Mr Bansal’s journey to becoming an architect began as a schoolboy sitting on the back seat of the family’s Volvo 760 saloon.
He became fascinated by the car’s dashboard and how its design had to support so many different functions. Today, he uses maths to solve problems with physics – all through the eye of an artist.
“When I look at what my family did with civil engineering in Tanzania, I could see how simple design could change so many lives,” he says. “I’ve learned about a lot of things around the world and don’t understand the rationale of glass-covered buildings – if there are parts you can’t see through, then use something else.
“I also prefer the term ‘placemakers’ to developers – we’re working for Argent in Paradise. Look what Argent did in Brindleyplace, they’re not flyby-nights. They are interested in legacy, history in the making in the city.
“Right at the beginning of the Paradise development we were told that over 20 to 25 years, there could be a number of recessions or other things, and that they should not restrain us from continuing with the ambition that good quality can be special – and that you can leave a place better than you found it as part of the life cycle.”
Like his father before him, Mr Bansal wears a turban but since he is also non-practising has let his two boys grow up without growing their hair. I guess it’s a form of identity, but hasn’t helped me in any way,” he says. “If it does help, maybe I’m a role model – but I am self-critical and always want to be a better designer. It’s nothing to do with any criteria about being ‘diverse’ or anything like that.
“Design is subjective, so the best thing you can do is your homework. With Paradise we looked at the crown jewels like Birmingham Town Hall, and the masterplan came from that.”
For more information about Octagon visit www.octagonbirmingham. co.uk
It made me realise that you should not think too hard and hold yourself back