Restaurant plan for former Birmingham bank
A FORMER bank in the heart of Birmingham’s Calthorpe Estate is set to be into a new pub restaurant.
Plans have been submitted to convert the former NatWest in Harborne Road into a Boston Tea Party outlet.
The chain already has operations in the former Yates’s in Corporation Street in Birmingham city centre, and in Harborne.
The new scheme will see the conversion of the Victorian building into a restaurant with office space above.
The plans, designed by Birmingham architects St Paul’s Associates, will see the late Victorian architecture of the main building and coach house married with contemporary features such as glazed frontages and a double ceiling height atrium.
Subject to planning consent, the scheme will provide 4,323 sq. ft. of restaurant space and 3,502 sq. ft. of office space on the two levels above.
Tim Abbotts, Director of Estates at Calthorpe Estates, said the plans would help to broaden the appeal of the Edgbaston Village as a whole.
“These latest proposals to sensitively convert the period building to new uses will further enhance Edgbaston Village’s broader appeal, coupled with changes to the street scape on Greenfield Crescent and the new public car parks,” he said.
“There is a real interest in the area and it is exciting to see how period buildings, like this property, 16-22 Harborne Road and 10-15 Greenfield Crescent, are being renovated to make way for potentially Boston Tea Party and other new retail and leisure operators to provide high end services and add to our thriving leisure and lifestyle community.”
The works will include replacing the mock coach house gates with glazed folding sliding doors and creating double height spaces, reconfiguring the landscaping and car parking while keeping the existing extension at the back where NatWest will remain.
Managing Director and owner of the Boston Tea Party, Sam Roberts said the proposals fitted with his firm’s ethos of utilising buildings of character.
“The unique and prominent building within Edgbaston Village provides an ideal opportunity to build on the success of our existing Birmingham cafés in Harborne and Corporation Street, by appealing to people working, living or visiting Edgbaston,” he said.
Ben Mabbett, an architect at St Paul’s Associates said: ‘’30 Harborne Road, like so many of the buildings on the Calthorpe Estate has some wonderful period architectural features, which we are bringing back to their original glory and combining with contemporary interiors to create exciting spaces for new uses and tenants.
“This property has offered us the chance to come up with something a bit special that people in the area can enjoy for decades to come, whilst respecting the building’s heritage.”
The design team working on the project comprises Rider Levett Bucknall, Engineering Services Consultancy, Hydrock structural engineers and SRL Technical Services.
This latest proposal follows a number of retail and leisure operators moving to Edgbaston Village in the last year. The Physician, a new pub for Brunning & Price, at 36 Harborne Road will open later this year once works to refurbish are completed, while the popular Highfield gastro pub has recently opened, with the 12-room Highfield Town House hotel next door.
