The proposals, submitted to Birmingham City Council for developer Bluecastle Capital, would transform the vacant 42 High Street Birmingham site into 729 build-to-rent flats with commercial uses at ground floor.
It would be Birmingham’s tallest building alongside Associated Architects’ 172m-tall Curzon Wharf scheme, which secured approval in 2023 but has not yet begun construction.
Squires’ tower would replace a disused 1950s Marks & Spencer department store, designed by Birmingham architect James M Munro & Son. The store closed in 2003, and the building has sat vacant since. Historic England issued the building a Certificate of Immunity from Listing in January this year.
Squires and Bluecastle Capital said the project, located a stone’s throw away from Moor Street station and the Grimshaw-designed Curzon Street terminus for HS2, would act as a gateway from the station into central Birmingham.
The development would provide 346m2 of flexible space for shops and restaurants at ground level and 1,677m2 of public realm around the base of the tower, including new lighting and art to replace the current site’s ‘blank façade’.
The tower’s design features a setback colonnaded base, with its crown mirroring this colonnaded language. A drop shoulder at floor 48 would contain amenities for residents such as social lounges and a landscaped terrace, using material reclaimed from the demolition of the existing building.
The application says 51 per cent of the targeted land will be made available as publicly accessible space, intended to improve the connectivity between Birmingham’s commercial centre and the upcoming HS2 station. The scheme would also improve landscaping on High Street, Carrs Lane and Moor Street Queensway.
New landscape around the base of the building has been drawn up by Layer Studio in collaboration with Squires. A ‘workshop garden’ at the eastern edge of the site would welcome travellers using the HS2 line, and contain a seating area ‘anchored by a piece of civic art’.
The site also forms part of Birmingham’s City Central Heart Prospectus plan, designed by Gensler. This massive project involves eight prospective schemes which would create a new neighbourhood and deliver up to 5,000 homes and 7ha of new public space.
Squires partner Bettina Brehler said: ‘The design responds to its civic context through materiality and rhythm, with a striking setback colonnade that grounds the building at human scale and widens Carrs Lane to create a welcoming pedestrian route from HS2 into the heart of the city centre.’
Bluecastle Capital chief executive Ed Williams described the project as a ‘critical piece’ in the city’s ‘regeneration puzzle’, adding that the new tower was intended to become a ‘new benchmark for quality, sustainability and urban living’.
Squires’ tower joins a list of tall buildings planned or completed in Birmingham. These include Glancy Nicholls Architects’ completed 51-storey ONE Eastside, Howells’ completed 49-storey Octagon, Metropolitan Workshop’s approved 48-storey 2 Snow Hill Plaza and Broadway Malyan’s 46-storey Edition Birmingham, which is under construction.