Planners give green light to £8m medical hub
BIRMINGHAM City Council has given the green light to plans for an £8m medical hub in Edgbaston’s thriving healthcare quarter.
The Calthorpe Estates’ proposal, for a standalone 30,000 sq ft building at 30 Highfield Road, has been designed by Birmingham-based Glenn Howells Architects.
The hub building represents the third major project on the Calthorpe Estate for the architects.
The self-contained three-storey building will incorporate bright, modern and flexible open plan space for medical treatment, consultancy, research and administrative uses, while also maintaining privacy for the end-user. An additional basement level is proposed to accommodate larger medical instruments, while allowing the building to remain relatively small.
The building is to be constructed on the site of an under-used car park to the rear of the former Birmingham Medical Institute headquarters and will also incorporate on-site car parking.
Ralph Minott, Director of Development at Calthorpe Estates, said: “Edgbaston Medical Quarter’s reputation for world-class medical, healthcare and life sciences continues to go from strength-to-strength.
“As such, demand is growing for modern, flexible medical space which complements the established traditional medical properties and is located in the commercial heart of the estate. Here, users and visitors have the benefit of a range of leisure and lifestyle amenities within Edgbaston Village, coupled with good transport links.”
Calthorpe Estates is targeting potential occupiers looking at new opportunities within a thriving medical quarter.
“We are delighted to have secured planning consent for this important new facility just a matter of weeks after we announced the arrival of Care Fertility to EMQ; while at Pebble Mill, the Birmingham Dental Hospital and School of Dentistry is now operational and work is expected to get underway on the approved new private hospital and Bupa Care facility in the next few months,” he added.
“When you add to these landmark projects, the many diverse medical, healthcare and life sciences businesses and specialists we have welcomed to the Estate since the beginning of the year, it is clear to see there is a great deal of momentum around EMQ and the unique opportunities it presents.”
Brooke Smith Planning submitted a comprehensive planning application for the scheme.
The supporting statement outlined how the proposed development would reuse the institute site while protecting the significance of the Edgbaston Conservation Area.
