Old Snow Hill foundations to form walls of new restaurant
PART of Birmingham’s original Victorian Snow Hill railway station will be incorporated into a new basement restaurant in Birmingham’s business district.
City planners have awarded the green light to the novel redevelopment underneath One Colmore Row which will incorporate elements of the substructure from the original station.
The project will see a striking glass entrance pavilion built in Snow Hill Square which has been designed by London-based GLaSS, the company behind the imposing glass structure outside the Apple store in Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue.
No occupier is lined up yet to take the unit, which will count Waitrose as its next door neighbour, but it is hoped work will start this year and be completed by next spring.
Owner Amber Real Estate Investments is behind the redevelopment which would bring to life an unused but prime location in the Colmore Business District.
It is the latest in a long line of new restaurants which are hoping to tap into the wave of businesses expected to set up shop in a number of office projects currently under development.
Bob Ghosh, founder of Digbeth- based of K4 Architects which is leading the redevelopment, said: “We spoke to some local engineers about the structure and their response was how efficient they could make the steel frame.
“However, on talking to GLaSS founder Tim MacFarlane, he said we wouldn’t need any steel and the glass walls could support the entire structure.
“The project has proven to be complex and required Amber Real Estate to liaise with a number of stakeholders including Colmore Business District, Birmingham City Council, Ballymore and Network Rail, whose tunnel runs adjacent to the site under the square.
“Having secured planning consent, the team, led by DBK Construction Consultants, will now turn their attention to procuring and delivering the scheme.”
Marketing of the unit to potential occupiers will start at the end of the year but Mr Ghosh said there had already been “significant interest” from some very high-profile operators.
It is estimated that around 12,000 people per day pass through the square with many of the city’s business community using Snow Hill station.
The new restaurant feeds into a longterm vision for Snow Hill Square and Colmore Row unveiled in May aiming to make this part of the city centre more welcoming and friendly to pedestrians.