The 49-storey Octagon tower would stand 155 metres (510 feet) high and have 346 apartments for rent.
It is part of the £700m Paradise redevelopment that is being brought forward through Paradise Circus Limited Partnership (PCLP), a private-public joint venture with Birmingham City Council. The private sector funding is being managed by the international business of Federated Hermes. Argent is the development manager.
Octagon follows on from the completion of the first phase of this mixed-use development, including the first two buildings, One Chamberlain Square and Two Chamberlain, as well as new public realm.
The next commercial building at Paradise, One Centenary Way, a 13-storey 280,000 sq ft office-led building, is being built now by Sir Robert McAlpine [see our previous report here], and another commercial building, Three Chamberlain Square, is going through a design competition.
Argent regional director Rob Groves said: “Our ambition with Octagon continues to be a simple one – to build one of the finest apartment schemes ever seen, not just in Birmingham or the region, but in the UK. This ambition drives the design and execution of the building and is reflected in everything about it – the height, size of the apartments themselves and their design, the views and the location in the city centre.
“Since the public consultation we conducted in May of this year, we have been listening to the feedback and working hard behind the scenes with Glenn Howells Architects to come up with new elements to this world-class design.
“It has always been our ambition to create a truly mixed-use development at Paradise that includes not just commercial buildings, but also leisure, hotel and residential spaces that complement the buildings we have already completed.
“By submitting our formal planning application, we now look forward to working with the city to progress the building through the planning process. Vital to this is the public feedback we’ve already received and this will figure prominently in our ongoing conversations will all stakeholders.”
Dav Bansal, partner at Glenn Howells Architects, said: “The approach for this design is straightforward: we want to create the finest city centre homes ever seen in the UK, in a location that is simply unrivalled and in a building that is a part of a world-class destination.
“This building is not just a first for Birmingham and a new landmark on the city’s skyline, but it will be a distinct and instantly recognisable design offering homes of unparalleled individuality with every home enjoying a generous 12.7-metre facet of the Octagon, a first ever for a residential product.
“This horizontal expression of the façade enables the internal rooms to open up to panoramic views of the city. With a maximum eight apartments on a floor, the quality on offer reflects Octagon’s setting close to the ingenuity and innovation of the Jewellery Quarter and its key role in the industrial revolution.”
Planning consultancy for Octagon is being carried out by the Birmingham office of Turley.
At almost two million square feet, the whole Paradise scheme will have up to 10 new buildings, offering offices, shops, bars, cafés, restaurants and a hotel across 17 acres in central Birmingham, as well as the proposed Octagon building.
Got a story? Email news@theconstructionindex.co.uk
