Birmingham Tower Continues To Grow

Following on from recent upbeat reports from a number of property sources regarding the growing confidence in Birmingham's skyline, it would appear the recent change in stance by both the city council and the city's international airport is starting to have an impact on the cities developing skyline.A revised application for Richardson Cordwells yet to be named tower on Broad Street has recently been received by the city council. Not only was this tower the first tower to breech the city's controversial height limit since the Arena Central Tower proposal, but it was well away from the councils preferred locations of Five Ways, Paradise Circus or Holloway Circus. To most, it would have appeared that this scheme was doomed to fail, not only against strong opposition from Birmingham International Airport, but with the council yet to determine the outcome of the application since it was submitted early this year, it seemed doomed to be lost in the messy world of planning appeals. However, behind the scenes, Cordwell have been said to be in close correspondence with Birmingham city council on how to change the building to better meet the requirements of the council and help make sure they will have better luck than previous developers have had. The revised application, although only 3m taller, now includes a smaller scale street level façade to better sit in the existing streetscape but also boasts an extra floor bringing the final floor count to 40. There is also a new helicopter pad on the roof for those who want to arrive in style, not to mention design changes, in particular to the frontage. However, one of the biggest differences between the treatment of the older and revised applications is that through close talks with the city's airport, no objection has been lodged on grounds of aviation safety. Being a development that breeches official CAA height limits by over 35m (the equivalent of approx 10 storeys), this is a major hurdle cleared in gaining approval for the scheme. An announcement is expected later in the year with sources suggesting work shall start on site before the year is out. Once built it will beat Holloway Circus Tower as Birminghams tallest inhabited building.