Tall towers are all about right location

DEAR Editor, In response to the letter published last week advocating the development of more tower blocks in Birmingham.

Your reader may have missed the point of the argument.

The fact that Birmingham once had a tall towers policy (High Places 2003) indicates the importance of the correct siting of such imposing structures.

Post-war Birmingham was quick to adopt the construction of High Rise buildings, some of which were terrific, e.g. The Birmingham Post & Mail building, sadly no longer with us, and some were a disaster.

Surely the important thing is to learn from our past mistakes.

One of the most important lessons is to consider the space around a building and its relationship to the surrounding architecture.

A good example still standing is the Alpha Tower – the space around the building allows it to fit well and float airily in its surroundings.

The development of the tower block on Smallbrook Queensway would not achieve these ambitions, the space being cramped and limited.

As a city we seem to have lost sight of any coherent design purpose, the demise of the city architect with an over-arching vision, may well have contributed to this.

We call on the council to develop objective criteria to inform these decisions and allow for a public debate.

Do the citizens of Birmingham want a highrise metropolis, or a mixture of the best of our architecture from all periods? Mary Keating On behalf of Brutiful Birmingham – campaigning to save the best of post war C20th heritage