Birmingham’s shining icon set to be dulled

PART of the shiny stainless steel façade wrapping around Birmingham’s New Street Station is to be dulled to stop it acting like a giant mirror and heating up surrounding properties.

The two areas are to the north-west corner by the media eye and the taxi pick up to the south.

The façade was a major factor in giving the new station its distinctive look when redevelopment plans began four years ago.

However, subsequent tests on the building have identified two potential hot-spots which could act like a giant magnifying glass when the sun is in a particular position.

A wide range of buildings and uses surround the station. To the south on the opposite side of Station Street are commercial properties, including a hotel, the Electric Cinema, the Grade II listed Old Repertory Theatre and on the corner with Hill Street, the Crown Public House. Above some of these properties there are residential apartments.

West of the application site is Hill Street, with commercial properties on the opposite side, including the Grade A locally listed former Futurist Cinema on John Bright Street, a small convenience store, multi storey office blocks and a casino.

Councillors at today’s Birmingham City Council planning committee are being asked to approve plans which could prevent the problem.

A report to the committee states that in January 2013, a specialist consultant was appointed to undertake a heat study following on from a glare study and analysis of the stainless steel façade.

Facade hot spotsThe analysis identified certain hot spot areas that were at risk of magnifying the sun’s reflection into public areas.

The north west corner of the station, together with the east entrance and the taxi pick up on the south approach were identified as areas of concern.

It concluded that at certain times in the year and under specific weather conditions, there was a potential high risk of magnification of the sun’s reflections from the concave elements of the façade.

The areas deemed to be a risk were initially intended to be mitigated by the canopy design. However, this has not proved possible for several reasons, including pedestrian flow in and out of the station, the need to redirect cables, coordination with other street furniture, vandalism, lighting issues, CCTV coverage, wind and ongoing maintenance.

The report to the meeting, case officer David Wells states: “Due to these challenges along with associated disruption that would be created during installation of such canopies, the applicant considered other options that included changing the reflective qualities of the façade.

“Whilst the dulling treatment is not ideal, I consider that it is an acceptable solution to the taxi-pick up and north-west corner.

“I am satisfied the applicant has explored options to avoid the treatment of the façade panels. Furthermore, the proposed treatment of the panels would be the most effective and feasible when compared with other options as well as the least disruptive. In addition, the applicant has applied the dulling treatment to several panels by the taxi pick up area to test the approach, which are considered to be acceptable and not unduly noticeable.”

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