Birmingham councillors praise Eastside Locks development

From the Birmingham Mail,

The company behind a major city centre canalside development has been praised for its efforts to preserve Birmingham’s heritage.

The Eastside Locks development will see shops, cafes, restaurants, offices, a hotel and flats built on former industrial land off Curzon Street.

And developer Goodman International has guaranteed, in its first phase of building, to restore the brick facade of the Belmont Works, a historic bicycle factory.

Birmingham’s planning committee welcomed the decision as it approved the first phase application.

Coun Paula Smith (Lib Dem, Hall Green) said: “I am delighted the developers listened to us and that early in the development they are going to restore the Belmont Works, rather than leave it until last by which time it has fallen down.”

I really want to know time scales.

Cabe design review slams Aukett Fitzroy Robinson’s £450m Birmingham Eastside Locks masterplan

From Building Design,

Aukett Fitzroy Robinson’s £450 million masterplan for the Eastside Locks area of Birmingham has been slammed by Cabe, which says it has “fundamental” concerns about the proposal.

In its assessment of the scheme published this week, Cabe’s design review panel said it was “unable to see an apparent logic or a meaningful concept that has driven the site layout.”

“In the absence of a concept, the design lacks rigour and is a weak response to [the] valuable assets of the canal and the park,” the panel stated.

“Overall, the masterplan misses many vital opportunities to make this a meaningful place and requires a fundamental rethink.”

The panel said the scheme’s public realm element was its principal weakness, and questioned the need for landmark buildings at two corners of the site.

It also criticised the project’s environmental credentials, claiming these were not an “integral” part of the design thinking.

Luke Schuberth, director at Aukett Fitzroy Robinson, said Cabe had misunderstood some aspects of the design.

“The focus on sustainability at every point of the process was manifested in the sustainability development framework agreed with Birmingham City Council and Advantage West Midlands, and evidenced in the application,” he said. “This approach appears to have been overlooked by Cabe.”

“Regeneration in this area is challenging. Given that the current application is in outline, we look forward to furthering the detailed design of the scheme to ensure the overall vision of all stakeholders is fulfilled.”

Links for 15th August 2008

UB40 fury at studio snub Birmingham Mail have covered UB40′s reaction to the rejection of planning proposal for new studios.  This is a huge blow for the area, making redevelopment unattractive to future investors.

Decontamination Centre on Eastside Locks A second world war decontamination centre will go under the wrecking ball when land is cleared for Eastside Locks.  It has no architectural merit, just like what will be replacing it.  *sigh*

Eastside Locks Full Planning Application Submitted

Locate Birmingham reports that Eastside Locks (was VentureEast) development has been submitted for full planning.

I do feel this development has disappointed me in some ways.  “Office: 686,000 sq. ft of low density, quality office space.”, prime land for at least a couple of mid-rises (50-100m in height) in my opinion.  Perhaps a wasted opportunity, especially with a 200m tower next to it.

Locate Birmingham writes:

“Eastside Locks – the £450 million mixed use regeneration scheme located in Birmingham city centre – moved a step closer today when an outline planning submission was made. The £1.8 billion Arlington Business Parks Partnership fund (ABPP), which is managed by international property group Goodman, together with joint venture partner Advantage West Midlands, submitted the plans which outline the proposed vision for the site and how it will evolve into 1.4 million square feet of offices, city living, a hotel, retail and leisure space…. (continued on full post)

Ventureast now Eastside Locks

News from MIPIM 2008, Property Week reports Ventureast has been renamed to Eastside Locks.

Sean McAllister writes,

“The mixed-use development, which has now been rebranded as Eastside Locks, will comprise 693,000 sq ft of commercial space, 344,448 sq ft of residential, a hotel and public open spaces.

Goodman was selected as preferred developer for the site in August 2007. It also announced it will submit an outline planning application for Eastside Locks at the end of the month.

The first phase of development will include 105,000 sq ft of speculative office space and 50,000 sq ft of commercial space for small- and medium-sized enterprises. Goodman plans to start on site with the first phase in the first quarter of 2009.“

Eastside Blog will be reporting on the master-plan later in the week.