News

Planning for Birmingham’s Octagon tower submitted

Acting on behalf of Paradise development manager Argent, Turley has submitted a planning application for the world’s first pure Octagon residential tower.

We are providing expert Planning, EIA, Heritage & Townscape, Economics and Development Viability services for the Paradise redevelopment which is being brought forward through Paradise Circus Limited Partnership (PCLP), a private-public joint venture with Birmingham City Council. The private sector funding is being managed by the international business of Federated Hermes. Argent is the development manager.

Octagon continues the latest phase of the Paradise development, the £700 million transformation in the heart of the city.

The 49-storey, 155 metre (510 feet) tall tower will create a stunning new landmark for the city as well as provide up to 346 new homes of outstanding quality and design with views across the city.

There will be a mix of one, two and three bed homes, including some at affordable rents for key workers.

Octagon follows on from the completion of the first phase of this mixed-use development, which includes the first two buildings, One Chamberlain Square and Two Chamberlain, as well as new public realm across the estate.

The next commercial building at Paradise, One Centenary Way, a 13 storey 280,000 sq ft office-led building, which we also advised on, is now underway, and another commercial building, Three Chamberlain Square, is currently going through a design competition.

Proposals for Octagon were first shared in May 2020 through a dedicated website and online survey which attracted more than 130 detailed responses from members of the public. This widespread consultation process has influenced the final planning application which now sees improved ground floor legibility and a more extensive lighting strategy for the top of building which will be visible from across the city due to Octagon’s prominence on the Birmingham ridge – a line of higher ground running east-west through the city centre from Snow Hill to Broad Street.

Rob Groves, regional director with Argent, said:

“Our ambition with Octagon continues to be a simple one – to build one of the finest apartment schemes ever seen, not just in Birmingham or the region, but in the UK. This ambition drives the design and execution of the building and is reflected in everything about it – the height, size of the apartments themselves and their design, the views and the location in the city centre.

“Since the public consultation we conducted in May of this year, we have been listening to the feedback and working hard behind the scenes with Glenn Howells Architects to come up with new elements to this world-class design.

“It has always been our ambition to create a truly mixed-use development at Paradise that includes not just commercial buildings, but also leisure, hotel and residential spaces that complement the buildings we have already completed.

“By submitting our formal planning application, we now look forward to working with the city to progress the building through the planning process. Vital to this is the public feedback we’ve already received and this will figure prominently in our ongoing conversations will all stakeholders.”

Dav Bansal, partner at Glenn Howells Architects, said:

“The approach for this design is straight forward: we want to create the finest city centre homes ever seen in the UK, in a location that is simply unrivalled and in a building that is a part of a world-class destination.”

At almost 2 million square feet, Paradise is delivering up to 10 new flagship buildings, offering offices, shops, bars, cafés, restaurants and a hotel across 17 acres in the heart of the city, together with the proposed Octagon building.

Paradise sits in the country’s largest city centre Enterprise Zone and has already benefited from investment by the Greater Birmingham and Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership (GBSLEP) in enabling and infrastructure works.

A website showcasing the vision for Paradise, in addition to a live time-lapse camera and all the latest news about the development, can be viewed at www.paradisebirmingham.co.uk. The plans for Octagon can be viewed at www.octagonbirmingham.co.uk.

21 October 2020