Revised plans submitted for more ‘considered’ Colmore Gate scheme
A revised planning application has been lodged with Birmingham City Council, for the redevelopment of 2-6 Colmore Gate.
Ashtrom Properties is seeking approval to modify the ground floor facade fronting Colmore Row and Bull Street and develop a small rear extension to the existing building at level 1 only.
Its original plans were to refurbish and extend the existing building to create 510,000 sq ft of Grade A space across a 26-storey tower and a 10-storey shoulder building.
The development was refused by the council in February after concerns were raised by Historic England over its scale and appearance. It had suggested that reducing the tower height and harmonising the building’s exterior with the surroundings could help preserve the site’s heritage, but this reduction meant the plans were unviable.
Colmore Gate currently features 171,834 sq ft of office and retail space across a 17-storey tower and 8-storey wing designed by the Seymour Harris Partnership, alongside 86 basement car parking spaces.
In a design document by BuckleyGrayYeoman (BGY), plans will rectify the detachment of the existing ground floor shop fronts with the rest of the building, create an improved passage between Bull Street and Colmore Row, and construct a new infill at the rear of the building on level 1.
Ashtrom says it’s committed to minimising the carbon impact and reducing waste in construction and it aspires to retain the granite panelling that has been removed from the upper section of the existing ground floor facade so that it can be reused as aggregate for internal finishes to a future reception refurbishment.
