Birmingham’s tallest office tower in for planning

PLANS to build Birmingham’s tallest office tower, at 103 Colmore Row, have been submitted to the city’s council.

Joint venture partners Sterling Property Ventures and Rockspring are seeking permission to demolish the NatWest Tower and build a £60m 26-storey steel, aluminium and glazed structure in its place at the junction of Colmore Row and Newhall Street.

If approved, the development will be the tallest new office building outside London at 346ft high, with the apex 246m above sea level.

The scheme will create 500 construction jobs and, once completed, house 2,000 workers.

The formal planning application follows a four-month consultation period, which included the city’s planning officers, conservationists, the local business community and members of the public.

An external design review was also undertaken with Design Council CABE.

It is understood that the city council was unhappy with some aspects of the original plans, especially in relation to the public realm aspect.

Now feedback has informed the final submitted design by Doone Silver Architects, a tower specialist with co-founder John Silver having worked on the 56-storey Commerzbank building in Frankfurt.

The proposed development will comprise 200,000 sq ft of Grade A office space over 19 floors, with floorplates up to 12,250 sq ft. There will be basement parking for 34 cars and 92 bicycles.

There is 16,000 sq ft of leisure space. At street level plans include a winter garden and café facing Colmore Row, and a retail unit fronting Newhall Street.

At the top of the building there is provision for a 12,270 sq ft restaurant.

Sterling and Rockspring have simultaneously applied for permission to demolish the NatWest Tower to make way for the new development. A decision on this was deferred in March, pending the submission of the development partners’ plans for the site.

The 1970s 22-storey building has been empty since 2003.

James Howarth, managing director of Sterling Property Ventures, said: “Since acquiring the building late last year we have worked energetically to produce plans for a distinctive new landmark building for Birmingham.

“103 will not just be another elitist commercial building: we are keen that it becomes a destination for the people of Birmingham. The winter garden and skyline restaurant means it will be accessible to all.”