Plans submitted for £40m student accommodation block in Birmingham

PLANS have been submitted for a new £40m student accommodation development in Birmingham.

The scheme, submitted to the city council by accommodation provider Unite Students, is situated on a vacant plot in the Gun Quarter, close to Birmingham City and Aston Universities and if approved, will provide almost 600 student beds.

Unite Students acquired the site in May and it said the project was expected to achieve returns in line with its target for regional development. The scheme is anticipated to be completed in 2019.

The project will be funded by internally generated sources.

The development is adjacent to an operational Unite building and will increase the number of Unite beds in Birmingham to around 3,300 across five properties.

Richard Simpson, managing director of property for Unite Students, said the site met the company’s criteria for growth and investment returns in what was a strong, regional location.
 
“Birmingham is a thriving university city and home to four Higher Education providers, offering a wide range of highly respected courses. When complete, the new property will provide a safe and secure home for the growing number of students attracted to Birmingham,” he said.

Cooley Architects has designed the building. It said the design had been driven by “a desire to express the heating and cooling of the industrial process for which Birmingham is famous, as a metaphor for the university experience”.

“The cool metallic facade therefore is animated by a fiery dash of colour which leaps from the face of the building in metal fins,” it added.

“The building is strong on amenity space with a large choice of different internal and external spaces at ground and roof level.”

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