35-storey block revealed for site a few yards from 61-storey scheme
YET another skyscraper could be built in Birmingham city centre, with plans for a 35-storey building revealed this week.
But the tower, on the corner of Broad Street and Ryland Street, near Five Ways, would be just yards from a huge 61-storey residential block which already has permission.
The new project would house 440 apartments for rent and a 230-bedroom hotel, adding to an area overrun with construction work and the Midlands Metro extension.
The site, which is bounded by Ryland Street and Grosvenor Street West, currently houses a car park and business centre which is only partially occupied. Birmingham-based Taylor Grange Developments is leading the project, to be called ‘The Square’, while architects Corstorphine & Wright has designed the scheme.
Euro Property Investments won consent in January for 503 apartments across 61 storeys at 100 Broad Street, directly opposite Taylor Grange’s application site. Artist’s impression released by Taylor Grange do not show that proposal.
Taylor Grange is currently working on five build-to-rent projects in Birmingham worth a total of £500 million, including plans unveiled last year for a 36-storey block of 264 serviced apartments at 211 Broad Street.
At just 31 feet wide, the tower would be a so-called ‘super slender’ building due to the compact nature of the site and its proximity to other existing and planned buildings.
Moda Living is also on site at 212223 Broad Street where it is building The Mercian, a 42-storey tower containing 481 apartments and a 200metre running track on a podium.
Writing in last week’s Post, Birmingham architect Joe Holyoak, raised concerns about some of the other proposed high rise developments in the city, especially Digbeth.
He said: “There is a balance to be struck between numbers of dwellings and the quality of life that can be lived there.
“Building high puts limitations on the quality that can be achieved. But the sense of being in a particular district, on a particular street, is diminished the higher above the ground you go. Arguably, above the fifth or sixth floor you are engaging more with the horizon than with the street beneath you.
“The discussion of tall buildings often contains a fetishistic element, as if sheer height by itself possessed a special quality.
“Proposed high-rise buildings are routinely justified by their developers and architects as being a ‘gateway’, or a ‘landmark’.
“But how many gateways and landmarks can one district need or support?”
The new ‘Square’ project will feature a second ‘shoulder’ building of six storeys with 440 flats. A landscaped courtyard would feature a 200m running track alongside exercise stations and ‘zones’ for different activities. There would be an eightstorey block fronting Grosvenor Street West for the three-star hotel.
Discussions are ongoing with several potential occupiers, according to planning documents.
There will be no parking but developers say they would provide four pool cars for residents to use.
Samuel Ginda of Taylor Grange said: “We’re really looking forward to delivering this exciting new project alongside all of our other schemes in the city as this not only provides jobs to the region but our commitment to the regeneration of brownfield sites aides in Birmingham’s and the West Midlands’ housing needs.”
Tony Mead, a director with Corstorphine & Wright, added: “We wanted The Square to provide a new level of sustainable city centre dwelling, together with forming a new landmark building that contributes to the emerging and developing Birmingham skyline.”