Major Birmingham office building set for radical redevelopment

PLANS have been submitted for the redevelopment of a major Birmingham office development to bring it into the 21st century.

London and Continental Railways (LCR), a company wholly-owned by the Department for Transport, wants to make better use of the plot on which the current Axis building stands.

The building, off Holliday Street, is the filling in a sandwich between Arena Central and The Mailbox but its 1970s design is now out of keeping with the surrounds and detracts from the cityscape.

A design brief commissioned by LCR illustrates how the plot could be redesigned to enrich the city’s office provision.

The brief, prepared by Fletcher Priest Architects, is based on a redevelopment of the plot on which the 11-storey block stands to create One Axis Square. It identifies how a redeveloped office building would be sited in the space and how it would relate to the public realm at the centre of the new-look square.

In a similar way to the redesigned Paradise Circus, the plan shows a new public realm at the heart of the development, anchoring the buildings and providing a pedestrian space free of vehicle traffic. The plaza offers a variety of seating options and the hard landscape complements the active building frontages, providing adequate spill-out space for the offices above.

The proposals also indicate how the space could be adapted in the future to accommodate new office space as requirements demand.

The wider scheme, which would be subject to a separate outline planning application, would comprise three further buildings across a 1.68ha site. The development will be office-led, with additional ground floor provision for retail use.

The focal point at the heart of the site would be retained and the overall scheme would link seamlessly with its surroundings.

Originally built as Stanier House in the 1970s, Axis is a T-shaped concrete-framed building with a facade comprising pre-cast concrete panels with inset glazing. The building has a central circulation core at the intersection of the three wings and consists of approximately 16,095m2 of office accommodation. It is currently sub-divided into multiple tenancies.

“The existing building is inefficient internally, but also an inefficient use of an important city centre site. Furthermore, the 40-year-old building is beyond its serviceable life and does not meet the standards required for modern workspace,” states the design brief.

“A combination of economic and place-making factors makes the redevelopment of the site a significant opportunity for Birmingham.”  

It said the One Axis Square proposals were the first step whereby existing occupiers could be relocated to a modern office building, which would unlock the remainder of the site for significant additional development.

“This will bring investment in the form of new occupiers, greater expenditure in the local economy through a significant increase in the number of office workers, and overall a much greater economic contribution to central Birmingham compared to today,” it adds.

How One Axis Square could lookHow One Axis Square could look“The current site is dominated by poor-quality public realm, despite the presence of some trees. It deters movement between key central Birmingham destinations including New Street Station, the Mailbox, Arena Central, and BrindleyPlace. Redevelopment brings the opportunity to create a high quality public space along key desire lines.”

It adds that the new public realm design would provide a visual connection and legible pedestrian links to Birmingham New Street Station and other destination points nearby.

The gentle south-facing grassy slopes on the site could be utilised to create a landscape amenity for workers and visitors alike. The space alongside One Axis Square could provide a tree-lined route through the site to Holliday Street and beyond, with pedestrian priority provided through a car park space. This proposal retains the green landscape of the current site.

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