Student accommodation scheme undergoes revision after flaws to original design
A SCHEME to build more than 500 new student apartments in Birmingham is set for revision after flaws were discovered in the original design.
The Ivy League Development Company was given planning permission for the development on Cliveland Street in the city’s Gun Quarter in 2015.
However, the company has now submitted revised proposals after reviewing the original plans.
In the scheme approved there was inadequate provision of plant, office, bin and bike storage facilities.
In order to provide this, student rooms had to be replaced on the ground floor.
In an attempt to alleviate the shortfall of rooms, the developer is now proposing to construct an additional floor to a wing of the development adjoining a courtyard.
A statement in support of the application says the addition of the extra storey to the back of the building balances the loss of the ground floor rooms.
The amendments include squaring off a tower at the front of the scheme, which fronts New Town Row.
Squaring of the tower has allowed architects to slim its proportions and make other cosmetic changes.
The proposals will result in the footprint of the tower being reduced by 5%.
While changing the layout of the ground floor of the scheme, the architects have also incorporated a series of new measures including a cafe, gym, retail unit, management space and sub-station. The rear staircases will be enclosed and there are also revisions to landscaping, elevational treatment and design.
The approved building is designed in four parts: Workshop Building, Warehouse Building, Forge Building and Buffer Building, with the primary alignment running along Cliveland Street.
The site occupies the Globe Works, which was previously used as a metal finishing works with furnaces, chemical treatment areas, laboratories and offices. The works were originally founded in the mid-19th century when the factory produced iron hinges.
