{"id":17390,"date":"2025-04-13T20:17:13","date_gmt":"2025-04-13T20:17:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/17390\/"},"modified":"2025-04-13T20:17:13","modified_gmt":"2025-04-13T20:17:13","slug":"dynamic-plans-for-multiple-towers-in-birmingham-could-transform-land","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/17390\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Dynamic’ plans for multiple towers in Birmingham could ‘transform’ land"},"content":{"rendered":"

Those behind the proposals want to build a mixed-use development, consisting of apartments, student accommodation a<\/a>nd a hotel, on the site of the former Axis Building on Holliday Street.<\/p>\n

There would be five buildings in total, including a 49-storey residential tower, if the scheme went ahead.<\/p>\n

Planning documents say the development could become a \u201cbeautiful gateway\u201d in the heart of Birmingham<\/a> and create a \u201cvibrant, lively atmosphere\u201d on the site, which is now a cleared plot of land.<\/p>\n

Buildings one and two would be residential towers, 49 and 39 storeys, and comprise 868 residential units across them both.<\/p>\n

The student residential tower is proposed to be 29 storeys and provide 720 bedspaces as well as a food hall at lower levels.<\/p>\n

The fourth building would be used as a hotel with 229 serviced apartments while the fifth, a residential building, would deliver 122 apartments across ten storeys.<\/p>\n

\"CGICGI of the proposed Birmingham city centre development. Taken from design and access statement prepared by SimpsonHaugh Architects on behalf of Vita Group.<\/p>\n

These buildings would be sat around a public square, which a council report said would be a \u201csignificant public realm improvement\u201d.<\/p>\n

But a number of concerns were raised at a planning committee meeting this week, with Coun Philip Davis saying he was worried about the impact on historic buildings nearby.<\/p>\n

He also argued that the council doesn\u2019t have a \u2018tall buildings policy\u2019, adding: \u201cWhat we\u2019re seeing is the incremental transformation of the city into a city of tall towers.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut we\u2019re in a grey area \u2013 we don\u2019t have a view, we\u2019re just allowing it to happen.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we want to go in the New York direction \u2013 then let\u2019s have a debate about it.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut if we don\u2019t, that should be considered as well. We need to have some view on this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Coun Colin Green meanwhile was frustrated by the proposed housing mix, which was 45.6 per cent one-bed, 51.4 per cent two-bed and three per cent three-bed.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we\u2019ve got here is a very tall building full of one-bedroom flats that doesn\u2019t meet the city\u2019s housing needs,\u201d he said. \u201cWe already have enough [one-bedroom flats].\u201d<\/p>\n

But Coun Lee Marsharm, chair of the planning committee, spoke positively about the proposed scheme, saying it would provide \u201clots of housing which this city needs\u201d.<\/p>\n

On concerns over heritage, he went on to remind the committee that Historic England<\/a> had not objected to the plans.<\/p>\n

Nick Jackson, area planning manager at the council, said the housing mix was overall in favour of two and three-bed homes and noted there was a \u201cdeliverability factor\u201d as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to make best use of these sites and that\u2019s why we see tall buildings in the city centre,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He added the council already has guidance when it comes to tall buildings which takes into account relationships with existing landmarks; presence within existing views; impact on surrounding heritage and more.<\/p>\n

A council officer\u2019s report, published prior to the meeting, did acknowledge that \u2018significant adverse visual effects\u2019 could possibly be experienced from Chamberlain Square and Victoria Square.<\/p>\n

But it added: \u201cThe Heritage Assessment (HA) highlights that in views from these areas, the proposed development would be viewed in combination with an existing backdrop of modern and tall development, which already influences the setting of the conservation areas.<\/p>\n

\u201cOverall, it is concluded in the HA that the proposed development, whilst visible in some views, would maintain the significance of the conservation areas.\u201d<\/p>\n

It also concluded that with mitigation and proposed conditions, \u2018significant adverse environmental effects\u2019 do not warrant refusal.<\/p>\n

Ultimately the committee decided to defer a decision on the proposals following the concerns raised in the meeting.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Those behind the proposals want to build a mixed-use development, consisting of apartments, student accommodation and a hotel,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":17391,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7820],"tags":[855,748,393,4884,8823,379,12,2516,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-17390","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-birmingham","8":"tag-birmingham","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-england","11":"tag-great-britain","12":"tag-ldrs","13":"tag-local-hubs","14":"tag-news","15":"tag-property","16":"tag-uk","17":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114332503164762084","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17390","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17390"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17390\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17391"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17390"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17390"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17390"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}