Three Chamberlain Square starts on site at Paradise Birmingham

Construction work on the latest commercial building at Paradise Birmingham, Three Chamberlain Square, has begun.

Activity to prepare the site for work has already been taking place throughout 2023 and direct work will now be visible on the site situated next to The Town Hall and fronting Paradise Street as the main construction period begins.

Scheduled to open in 2025, Three Chamberlain Square was awarded planning permission by Birmingham City Council in June 2022, and forms an integral part of the overall Paradise masterplan.

It will add another new commercial building to the estate while the immediate public realm will help create new connections between Chamberlain Square and Paradise Street.

This includes a new access route for the Town Hall tram stop, aiding both city centre connectivity and improving accessibility to public transport for the millions of pedestrians who access the Paradise estate each year.

Designed by architects Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios (FCBStudios), Three Chamberlain Square aims to be one of the greenest commercial buildings built in the UK post-Covid.

Targeting a BREEAM Outstanding rating, the 189,000 sq ft space will be a first for Birmingham in terms of environmental standards and is being built by construction and engineering contractor Sir Robert McAlpine.

The company, which has already completed work on One Centenary Way at Paradise, will continue its relationship with Paradise as it works on this second key phase of the £1.2bn Paradise development.

Ross Fittall, of Paradise development and asset manager MEPC, said: “This announcement of moving ahead swiftly with Three Chamberlain Square underlines our ongoing commitment to the city and to bringing forward new buildings at Paradise that are at the cutting edge of building technology and sustainability, as well as being of real architectural merit.

“Sir Robert McAlpine has already proven itself to us over the past three years as it worked on the successful completion of One Centenary Way. Its civil engineering skills are essential to a project like Paradise where we are always working within a highly constrained site with complex topography, groundworks, infrastructure and pedestrian flows to deal with.”

Alina White, partner at FCBStudios, said: “Our vision for Three Chamberlain Square is a building centred around the three principles of sustainability, wellbeing and place. With a main contractor now on site, we look forward to this vision coming to life over the coming years.

“Three Chamberlain Square has a prominent city centre location adjacent to the Town Hall and we have worked hard to pay homage to the past while setting new standards of modern design for the city.”

As well as Three Chamberlain Square, a new 17 storey hotel on the corner of Paradise Street, was approved in 2022, along with three important new public spaces: Ratcliff Square, Western Terrace and Ratcliff Passage.

Together, this work on Three Chamberlain Square, the new hotel and new public realm, will complete the work associated with Phase Two of the development.

Work is also currently well underway on Octagon, the 49 storey apartment tower at the northern apex of the Paradise site.