New lease of life for old science museum
Birmingham Post 16/06/05

Birmingham's former science museum is to. Be transformed into offices, apartments and shops as part of a multi-million pound scheme.

The £65 million development at the 2.43 acre historic site at Newhall Street, will be built around a new public square in the Jewellery Quarter. It will incorporate two listed buildings together with a 1930's factory which all formed part of the former Elkington Works -the company that pioneered the development of electroplated goods.

The development includes 234 apartments and studios, secure underground parking and office, retail and leisure space built around the new public square.It will also feature a tourist-visitor attraction.

Office and workshop space will be available in units from 500 to 40,000 sq ft and retail and leisure units from 1,000 to 10,000 sq ft.
RO St Bernards, which has been formed by RO Developments and Birmingham based developer St Bernards Property, has submitted a planning application for the site. The company said it was working closely with Birmingham City Council on the scheme.
Neville Topping, a director at RO St Bernards, said "We have been, working very closely with planning and conservation officers, English Heritage, the Jewellery Quarter Partnership and local residents and business to design a scheme which will continue the regeneration of the Jewellery Quarter, attract new residents and businesses and enhance, the amenities and Opportunities in the area."

The former Science Museum has been mothballed for some six year since its exhibits were transferred to ThinkTank at Millennium Point.

Work on the site could start early next year.
http://tinypic.com/5z4h10

Umm :dunno: Bit bland, we need glass by the canals.

COME ON GUYS YOU CAN DO BETTER THAN THIS!

yeah looks bland, but so did southside and westside 2, who knows what they will look like in reality ?

Whats happened to the big glass box that was meant to go on that site???? oh well at least its moving forward but the rendering is hardly exciting is it.

well the rendering i saw in EGi a few weeks ago showed a much better rending.....well more a side elevation. it looks like it is made of different buildings of different styles but is all one big complex. i dont think this is a very flattering view off the scheme but hey, as dee says, its moving!

well the rendering i saw in EGi a few weeks ago showed a much better rending.....well more a side elevation. it looks like it is made of different buildings of different styles but is all one big complex. i dont think this is a very flattering view off the scheme but hey, as dee says, its moving!

Any chance of finding this rendering, and scanning it on to the comp? Love to see a clear render, im not getting excited over this at all at the moment,a lthough its more canal network redevloped.

presumably the public sqaure opens directly out onto the canal, which might suggest the more impressive buildings that have been mentioned are hidden from view in this rendering. Does look a bit bland but truth be told I was not expecting much from this in any case. More glue between the 'landmarks'.

well, yes, think of this as infill, its just meant to make the envirnmoent look much more appealing

sorry BC, dont have the editiion the rendering was in!

the word Jewellery Box sounds posh ! It rises expectations

The building doesnt live up to the name. At least if it is going to be a midrise mediocre project, they should have gone for a name that suits it

"The brick building"? :)

"The brick building"? :)

"The brick building ... By the canal"

just wondering, do they also attempt to clear some of the canal water ie make it more cleaner and clearer, or do they leave as that and claim that it being dirty is the beauty of it???

what do people mean its "a bit bland" its fucking appalling and a disgrace. I dont see how people can get worked up about the westside ext a build on to a shit buiddlingon the ring road and not get to fussed about a complete wate of prime canal.


I was going to write a post in the world forum i the cubethread sayign that i disagreed with alnmost every word Britannia said=but he apears right about tthe city allowing substandard design to get through if it has some regenerative effec. It isnt good enough.


He's still out of his fuckign mind when it comes to selfridges though. I cant belive he seen it at night -close up its incredible.- I showed a 40 some south african guy round it around midnight yesterday whom id assumed to be rather conservative and he was blown away.

More brown archictecture for Birmingham.....we want glass!! Well I do anyway.

The gap between this and Islington gate is far too narrow. The towpath needs to be widened.

The building on the right is identical to the flats at the end of my road in Bristol. I'll try to remember to get a photo tomorrow to post here.

I think that's a pretty standard design, there are apartments going up on the waterfront in Walsall which are identical

More brown archictecture for Birmingham.....we want glass!! Well I do anyway.

We found glass, lots of it, last night - two proposals full of the damn material ;)

I agree it does look a pretty standard design,but at least it will bring the building back to life.PS i'm new to this forum so please be gental with me cheers!

welcome to the forum mate.

Welcome!

http://www.ybapublications.co.uk/thehockleyflyer/hf_latest_news.htm

a little more info and it looks slightly beter in this article and from this angle

yeah there is a bit of colour and those protuding sections add some character.... I agree the other views look too bricky, reminds me of every marina and waterside development this country has seen since the 1990s... yawn

this angle it looks like the brindleyplace buildings (two, nine and escpecially six)

still without seeing the whole thing who can tell,

http://www.rogroup.co.uk/developments.html

developers website, no images though

still looks dreadful

Saw this today in Estates Gazette

http://tinypic.com/6zbq6f.jpg

Gem of a site takes to the water

Plans for a 2.4 acre site at the gateway to Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter were finally submitted this week, almost two years after a preferred developer was chosen.

RO St Bernards, a Joint venture between local developer St Bernards Property and RO Developments, said it would turn the former science museum on Newhall Street into a 278,000 sq ft “waterside urban village”.

Chris Bond, director of the jv, said the detailed planning application had been delayed after surveys revealed that the site levels were not as expected and because several properties on the site were listed during the consultation process. The £65m scheme, designed by Associated Architects, incorporates two listed buildings and a 1930s factory, which were part of the Elkington plating works.

Around a third of the space will be commercial, providing flexible offices from 500sq ft to 40,000 sq ft, shops and leisure units. There will be 234 flats, underground parking, a public square and space for a tourist attraction. Bond said: “A number of leisure and hotel operators have expressed an interest.”

The scheme could get consent as early as August, enabling RO St Bernards to be on site in early January 2006. Ken Hardeman, Birmingham council’s cabinet member for regeneration, said:” The design is very sympathetic to the site’s heritage.”

that looks much better when you see it like that

wander what the whole scheme looks like ?

still looks crap

that was the rendering i was on about... its a numnber of buildings each with varying design....


.... i cant say it looks crap as i thought the same with southside but hey...wat can i say?

yeah, i know what you mean about southside, looked awful in the pictures and the reality is very good indeed.

This does not look bad at all and looks better than the islington gates development on the other side, i would like to see the what the whole development looks like, including the squares and the office parts, they are retaining several listed buldings whi is a good idea x

Good find - Looks shit

Square boxes again - somebody should buy these cuboid-loving architects a compass and protractor. ;)
I think we should wait for more details on this scheme before making a judgement. A large canal-side square with seating for restaurants, similar to but bigger than the Mailbox, would be a great addition to Brum. If they can deliver a quality public space (and a tourist attraction!) then this development will get my thumbs up. And the square-angled buildings will fade into the background.

talking of public space !!

has anyone else noticed that many new developments provide public spaces, Liberty Place, symphony Court, Islington Gates, the new bass headquarters, off the top of my head

BUT THEY DO NOT HAVE BENCHES !!!

so you have nice places to walk through and look at, but you cant stay there and enjoy them, no doubt this is to stop the many drunks and druggies in the city centre lingering around them all day and botherign the new residents and businesses, but in the long run , its just going to create dead and vandalised places......

The environments are very sterile, there must be solution to create lively places ?

Cuboid Boxes, Associated Architects are big fans of Corbusier and other Modernist architects....you can see it alot in there buildings, this one too....I think they are quite funky !!

yeah, i know what you mean about southside, looked awful in the pictures and the reality is very good indeed.

This does not look bad at all and looks better than the islington gates development on the other side, i would like to see the what the whole development looks like, including the squares and the office parts, they are retaining several listed buldings whi is a good idea x
..listed they may be, but pretty they aint. Apart from the beautiful pub on the corner of Charlotte Street and Newhall Street there's not one building worth saving there!

I disagree !!! they are important industrial heritage, the front part, that used to be the entrance to the museum is quite a nice pice of victorian design and when restored should complement the pub

I think its covered in grey render at present, and the old flated factory behind, where the spitfire used to be held looks like the old bsa in small heath...standard early 20th brum factories, not many left and would prob provide some intersting space inside

something along the lines of the old Lucas Factory, they are not listed for nothing !!!

Given a little TLC these buildings will look great IMO, after all mate, remmeber how awful the Back to Backs looked before there restoration, you would never have guessed they could look like they do now

Most of the site should be cleared though x

Nah..sorry I can't see it. I know this block very well, and I think it all stinks. Like I said, except the pub. These buildings for me are not in the same league as the back to backs. Yeah I know all about the industrial heritage but just dont think these are prime examples worth saving. Knock it all down I say!

I think the buidlings should definatley be saved. I think Broimingam should be very reluctant to knock anyhting Victorian down.- its a Victorian city at heart and it has enoough 70s crap that can go instead.

Nah..sorry I can't see it. I know this block very well, and I think it all stinks. Like I said, except the pub. These buildings for me are not in the same league as the back to backs. Yeah I know all about the industrial heritage but just dont think these are prime examples worth saving. Knock it all down I say!

well wait and see i think you will be surprised

Some of the more interesting buildings of Charlotte street and the Jewellery Box site which I think aught to be retained

http://tinypic.com/8zmezl.jpg

http://tinypic.com/8zmeu1.jpg

I noticed today that it looks like a wharf or canal ran under the road where the hump is. The factory building i'm sure will go
http://tinypic.com/8zmgj6.jpg

I really love this. I don't know if this will stay but I dream about unbricking the windows and turning it into a bar everytime I pass it
http://tinypic.com/8zmf53.jpg

This next door to the casper building is worth saving too
http://tinypic.com/8zmh37.jpg

Great photos there are some real gems hidden away around this part of the city, hope they get renovated.

Just realised i used the word "Gems" when talking about buildings in the jewellery quarter, i wasn't trying to be clever or witty, it just came to me! :nuts:

Do me a favour! Apart from the beautiful Queens Arms pub (run by a very nice gay couple) there's nowt there worth saving..are you all mad?!

Those plans for the site are boring to say the least, like to be proved wrong though!

Do me a favour! Apart from the beautiful Queens Arms pub (run by a very nice gay couple) there's nowt there worth saving..are you all mad?!

They don't still knock building down like that pub do they?

Saw this today in Estates Gazette

What's the "tourist attraction" going to be?