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Turley submits planning application for BBC’s new Digbeth Factory home

Acting on behalf of leading developer Stoford, Turley has submitted a planning application for the BBC’s new Birmingham headquarters at the historic Typhoo Tea building in Digbeth.

We are providing Planning, Heritage, EIA and Strategic Communications services for the scheme, which will see the BBC move from its current home at The Mailbox to a new 84,001 sq ft custom-built broadcast centre in 2025. The Bordesley Street landmark will be one of Birmingham’s first net zero carbon in construction office buildings.

Typhoo Wharf, as it is currently known, will house several BBC teams including The Archers, BBC Asian Network, BBC Newsbeat, BBC Radio WM and Midlands Today.

The detailed planning application has been informed by two successful public consultation events and numerous online consultation responses. It represents the first phase of a wider masterplan for the surrounding area.

Gerard Ludlow, Director at Stoford, said: 

“The feedback from the public - both those who live or work in Digbeth and the thousands of people we reached via social media who are just interested in the scheme - has been overwhelmingly positive. Birmingham’s residents, visitors, and commuters are genuinely excited at the prospect of the BBC making its home at such a recognisable and prominent building.

"Typhoo Wharf is a significant opportunity, which will not only catalyse reinvigoration of the wider area, but will also help to kickstart further private and public-sector investment into Digbeth’s built environment and transport connections.

"Central to our Typhoo scheme is the commitment to conserving the historic building, which dates back to 1929 but has been left empty for decades.  The BBC’s new home will be instantly recognisable to everyone who travels into Birmingham on HS2, the tram, or into our existing railway stations."

The building is on target to achieve a BREEAM rating of ‘outstanding’ and an energy performance certificate (EPC) of ‘A’.

As well as Turley’s services, the project team includes The Gooch Estate, Glenn Howells Architects  and several public sector partners. The team is also preparing a comprehensive vision for the wider area, which will be served by multiple public transport connections, including a new tram stop, HS2’s Curzon Street terminus, and the existing Birmingham coach station and Moor Street railway station.

Over the next decade, Stoford plans to deliver up to 800,000 sq ft of new residential, office and hospitality accommodation around the BBC’s new home. The wider scheme will see more than 10 acres of underutilised land around Typhoo Wharf and the adjoining canal basin transformed into a mixed-use neighbourhood characterised by attractive public spaces and open thoroughfares.

Grant Associates is designing the landscape and urban realm, which will create a new canalside quarter centred on the waterway which used to bring tea in and out of the original Typhoo building. The new public square will be delivered in time for the first BBC staff to move in in 2026. Designs for the wider masterplan are being updated following feedback from the public. They will be published for further comment in the coming weeks, regarding opportunities for cafes, bars and terraces, as well as new homes and commercial spaces, which would complete the vision for Birmingham’s most creative canalside community.

For more information about Typhoo Wharf, visit: www.typhoowharf.co.uk

22 November 2022