Paradise circus

[rafter1]

Where's Josh,......I'm sure he'd have something to say about that!

[joshwebb]

Originally Posted by rafter1

Where's Josh,......I'm sure he'd have something to say about that!

Yeah like how gutted i am that not one is 100m :/ but i love the density

[sefton66]

I know the outline shows a max height of 85mish but could this be revised upwards with the final designs? I think the hotel would be great to have a spire on the top...

[feltip]

Few more images from the planning docs.










http://birminghamcentral.blogspot.co...-planning.html

[delores]

Originally Posted by vanson

You don,t need 1000ft buildings or iron monstrositys to produce the Wow factor.These renders are superb and the whole of it is VERY PLEASING TO THE EYE.

Exactly it's this sort of development that knits city's together with high quality architecture, spaces and density, Birmingham needs more of this with better public spaces corresponding to it's more pleasing buildings.

[blahblahv2]

The outline plans get a big thumbs up from me, simply for opening up Congreve Passage and allowing that currently virtually hidden and rather beautiful aspect of the BM&AG to be seen.

[i_like_concrete]

Flat roofs galore.

Disappointingly average masterplan.

[DBadger]

I'm impressed by the layout but disappointed by the renders (I know, they're just renders). This looks like the new plans for Telford, or Shrewsbury, or Summer Row, or just about any regeneration scheme. It doesn't scream "Birmingham". I personally would like to see the same style of architecture as the Town Hall, Bmag, etc, rather than the too common these days brutalism-but-cream-coloured.

The layout is great though. I can't help but feel it would benefit from a flat curb running through from New Street to the bridge, creating a flat, but visible road, to drag people in that direction, like the flooring in Wolverhampton's Dudley Street. It would de-emphasise the obstacle that is the Town Hall, and the 90 degree turn, and make it look like Broad Street and New Street are one and the same. Just my opinion.

[i_like_concrete]

I think the Town Hall screams 'Ancient Greece', more than it does 'Birmingham'.

[markmcd1976]

I'm not a fan of pastiche architecture. Modern, good designs, taking into account their surrounding where required, is the way forward for me.

I do think there should a signature building or two here, probably the one over the Queensway tunnel entrance and the Sandpits end, but tone them down around the Town Hall.

[Brummyboy92]

I think the cream colour is trying to respect the council house and museum.

[SimonTheSoundMan]

Originally Posted by Brummyboy92

I think the cream colour is trying to respect the council house and museum.

Originally Posted by i_like_concrete

Flat roofs galore.

Disappointingly average masterplan.

Concept drawings people. This is just about where buildings may go, a feel to massing and pedestrian flow. Design is not indicative of what will go up.

[rafter1]

Cream's OK,.......... but please, please, please no more brick,............. looking out to the Jewellery Quarter from the Central Core looks like a sea of mud, as does looking down Corporation Street from Bull Street to New Street.

[blahblahv2]

What Simon said...

[rafter1]

I have just looked back over the last 50 posts but I can't see Simon saying this.

[fruit&nut]

Originally Posted by i_like_concrete

Flat roofs galore.

Disappointingly average masterplan.

Couldn't agree more. It's very bland and doesn't respect the Art Gallery and Town Hall

Originally Posted by i_like_concrete

I think the Town Hall screams 'Ancient Greece', more than it does 'Birmingham'.

...wasn't it designed as a copy of the Pathenon?

[Qoasis777]

Originally Posted by fruit&nut

Couldn't agree more. It's very bland and doesn't respect the Art Gallery and Town Hall

...wasn't it designed as a copy of the Pathenon?

This is an outline planning app. The buildings won't look like this its just a guide for placement/size/height.

The town hall is based on the temple of castor and pollux I think

[fruit&nut]

Certainly sounds ancienty greeky then.

Pollux is also the original french name for Dougal in the Magic Roundabout.....

[Marc_Sky]

I personally would like to see the Town Hall becoming the focal land mark in the middle of a square a kind of Nodal Point with pedestrian circulation all around, this scheme comes close however i think the fountain in chamberlain sqare detracts from it. I know the fountain has been around for a long time but i find it very average!

[i_like_concrete]

The funny thing about people saying "they are only indicative designs", is that nine times out of ten, the detailed proposals are worse than the generic blocks they use when getting outline permission. I have no doubt that what is built will use a sympathetic stone facing, utilise collonades and generally look inoffensive. It will not be architecturally iconic, of that we can be sure.

A word of warning though, the black and white model shown above is a perfect example of a developer using a trick of light and simplified forms to make something look good without people thinking of longer term drawbacks.

Renders and model can make anything look appealing.

Ahem...




It's just a contemporary equivalent, except, it'll now be private land, Chamberlain square will be loomed over not by a civic building, but by corporate blocks, sterile and watched over by private security staff.

The scale and mass of what is proposed will far exceed the current bulk and heights of what is on site.