Our brief was to introduce of a new landmark tower along the southern route through Digbeth towards Birmingham city centre, in a project that balances efficient design, bold expressive architecture and dynamic solutions to unique site conditions.
Rising to 47 stories and providing 400 new inner-city homes, this vertical community has been designed to support living and creative working, with provision for studio space within apartments to meet the requirements of residents. Alongside this, a host of collaborative home working spaces and communal spaces for residents to meet and exchange ideas and stories have been integrated into the tower’s plan.
The building, in both its form and façade treatment, has been carefully developed to respond to the exceptional conditions this island site offers. The vertical fluted glazed façade and expressed fins provide a reference to Digbeth architectural style and set the bar for a new class of Birmingham City Centre high rise.
GNA worked closely with landscape artist Rob Colbourne to design a bespoke urban realm, entrance, and podium to the building. Providing essential soakaway and sustainable drainage interventions to assist with challenging flood risk criteria, this space also sought to tell a story about both the historic former use of the site and its geological past with a ‘river bed’ streetscape and elevated walkway bringing residents directly into the central circulation and break out spaces located in the base of the building.
