Office building set for rooftop extension to accommodate additional apartments
An office building in Sutton Coldfield is set to be extended to make a new apartment conversion more viable for developers.
Knights Developments has proposed to construct a two-storey rooftop extension at Knights House, The Parade, to create 12 additional apartments.
The existing eight-storey building has consent through prior approval for conversion from offices to a 52-apartment residential scheme.
The proposed extension would replace the existing rooftop plant room, telecommunications equipment and the stair/lift shaft.
The scheme is slightly amended from a previous proposal to reduce the scale of the rooftop extension and improve its design.
The proposal, set for approval at tomorrow’s (Thursday) meeting of Birmingham city’s planning committee, had attracted opposition from Sutton Coldfield Town Centre, which said it considered the scheme to be out of keeping with the area, and the Gate Inn, which said the extension would block out the pub’s natural light.
Historic England has also said it does not support the application because of the impact of the proposed extension on the town’s conservation area and on listed buildings in the vicinity of the site, including the Grade II listed Masonic Hall Buildings.
As it now stands, the extension would have a flat roof and would follow the rectangular contours of the existing building. It would be set in slightly from the main facades of the existing building and would include vertical columns to reflect the vertical brick columns in the existing building.
The proposed extension would provide six two-bed apartments and six one-bed apartments. Each apartment would consist of an open plan kitchen/dining/living room, separate storage cupboard and one or two bedrooms and either a bathroom or en-suite (four apartments would have both bathroom and en-suite).
Knights House is a 1970s brick office building, which adjoins the town’s Gracechurch shopping centre.
A report to tomorrow’s meeting states: “The proposed development would provide additional high quality housing in a sustainable town centre location. The proposed extension would be modest in scale and would have a sympathetic design to ensure it relates well with the existing building and does not appear overly dominant.
“The proposed refurbishments to the existing building and the design of the extension would improve the visual appearance of the building, improve the public realm and help to make a positive contribution to the setting of nearby listed buildings and the character and appearance of the adjacent conservation area.”
