Beorma rises

August 19, 2015

Beorma rises

In January 2009 I reported on developer Salhia submitting a planning application for a development called Beorma Quarter in Digbeth, http://birminghamcentral.blogspot.com/2009/01/107m-digbeth-tower-for-home-of-people.html. The Birmingham Post has reported that plans for the next stage of the development have been submitted, http://www.birminghampost.co.uk/business/business-news/plans-birminghams-tallest-office-building-9890130#ICID=FB-BirmPost-main.

The plans, resubmitted after submissions in 2010 and 2012, will see the original tower rise by three storeys from the original 27 storey design. The new 30 storey tower would become the third tallest building in Birmingham after the BT Tower and Beetham Tower and contain office and residential accommodation.

The tower is the second phase of the project following the renovation of the Grade II listed Digbeth Cold Storage building and construction of the adjacent 108 bedroom apart-hotel.

The photos below show the renovation work on the Cold Storage building and the adjacent apart-hotel viewed from the railway viaduct.

8 December 2014

30 May 2015

Carried out by BAM Construction, it saw the wholesale renovation of the Grade II listed Digbeth Cold Storage building to create office space and an innovation centre while a 108-bedroom apart-hotel run by French chain Adagio opened earlier this month.

This is the company's second UK apart-hotel, after launching in Liverpool in 2013, and it also plans to open in London and Edinburgh in 2016.

http://www.birminghampost.co.uk/business/business-news/plans-birminghams-tallest-office-building-9890130#ICID=FB-BirmPost-main

The new plans reveal that a third phase would see two more towers built of 10 and 14 storeys respectively before the fourth phase completes the 508,000 sq ft project with separate live/work units between these two towers. The whole project would contain 223 apartments.

The revised plans have been drawn up by Broadway Malyan and include the refurbishment of the locally listed 135-136 and 137 Digbeth while also retaining the facade of locally listed 138-139 Digbeth.

As the Birmingham Post notes in an opinion piece by Graeme Brown, http://www.birminghampost.co.uk/business/business-opinion/hail-growth-city-centre-office-9890235, the increase in height is a welcome boost in confidence for the city coming hot on the heels of the approved plans for a 26 storey replacement to the former 22 storey NatWest Tower on Colmore Row, http://www.birminghampost.co.uk/business/business-news/green-light-natwest-tower-demolition-9803041

The following images are reproduced from the planning application, 2015/06678/PA, to provide an indication of the massing of the new tower and other phases for comment. The public consultation period ends on the 17 September 2015.