Harborne Clock Tower

[adamdalziel]

Apologies if there's already a thread for this but I couldn't find one:

Harborne clock tower to become culinary school, with public square as Harborne to become food hub for Birmingham.

Cllr John Alden and Cllr Mike Whitby are delighted to announce that the council has secured the future of Harborne Clock Tower. It can now be confirmed that EDG properties will be redeveloping the site into a culinary centre of excellence for Harborne and Birmingham. The scheme will be a mix of restaurants, culinary school and public square.

Cllr John Alden said "Obviously in an ideal world everyone would like to have seen the clock tower as it was remain. However this was clearly not possible so we were therefore very keen to see a development that would supplement the high street and keep the historic building. The council could have sold the site for flats but we would not have accepted that".

Cllr John Alden added "This scheme not only ensures that part of the site is still public, it also ensures another part is used for education as well".

Cllr Mike Whitby added, "The scheme as a whole will be brilliant for Harborne high street by helping to attract more people to use the high street and develop it. This is a really exciting project for Harborne and we will be working to ensure this building is protected through all of this".

image hosted on flickr

[joshwebb]

Is there any new news for this then adam?

[adamdalziel]

Got a news-letter through this morning confirming that it will be turned into a culinary school with food court and that they have a developer on board. I know there had been speculation before so maybe this is not new.

[sefton66]

Some more info from the Birmingham Post on this

New Birmingham food hub planned for Harborne clock tower building
By Alun Thorne Jan 12 2012

Birmingham’s burgeoning culinary reputation is set to be further enhanced after plans for a ‘foodie’ hub in the heart of one of the city’s smartest suburbs were unveiled.

Neil Edginton, who is director at The Cube, wants to transform the old Victorian school with its distinctive clock tower on Harborne High Street into a mixed use scheme with up to three restaurants, a cookery school, a public square and 10 luxury apartments.

The Clock Tower building - which has been under scaffolding for more than 18 months because of structural problems - is owned by Birmingham City Council, which chose Mr Edginton’s company EDG Properties in an open competition to develop the site.

“It is very exciting to have been selected to develop this historic site in one of the city’s most sought after areas,” said Mr Edginton, who has been working with Bob Ghosh from K4 Architects.

“For the last couple of years we have been looking at opportunities in the city and this is undoubtedly one with the most potential.

"We are now looking forward to working with the local community and the wider city before taking our ideas to planning and hopefully delivering a scheme that everyone can be proud of.”

Under the proposals a new food school would be created called ‘Kitchen’ which would work in partnership with University College Birmingham and signature chefs from across the city to create a ‘community interest company’ that would be open to customers who wanted to learn from award-winning chefs to groups of children from local schools.


Jayne Bradley, from Kitchen, said: “It is predicted that by 2030, 60 per cent of children in the UK will be obese.

"The food agenda and its direct link to the health of the nation is now nationally recognised at the highest level. Kitchen has been established to bring a new dimension to Birmingham, offering routes to good food and top chefs through teaching food skills.

"We believe Kitchen will be held up as an exemplar around the country and are delighted to be launching in Harborne.”

David Colcombe, spokesman for the Birmingham Chefs Alliance, said the new development was a “fantastic” addition to the city’s growing food culture.

The city was recently described by the BBC’s Olive magazine as the UK’s top ‘foodie’ town, while a recent article in the New York Times put Birmingham in its top 20 places to visit in the world because of its food scene.

Colcombe, chef director at Opus restaurant, said: “People are coming into the city now because of its food and it is exciting that people are talking about food.

“This sort of thing would never have happened five or 10 years ago in Birmingham.

“If our food revolution is expanding further afield to the suburbs like Harborne it has got to be good for all of us involved in the restaurant business.

“The education of the public is very important and if the school improves food education we will all be very supportive about it.

“The chefs of Birmingham will be supportive of all these different projects and we look forward to seeing how the scheme develops.”

The £5 million ‘School Yard’ scheme will also see the restoration of the old caretaker’s house fronting on to the High Street as well as the creation of two restaurants on the same frontage, either side of the clock tower.

The clock tower itself will be restored and will provide the entrance to a public square on the old school playground, at the rear of which will be a new build block of 10 high specification apartments and potentially a third restaurant at ground level.

The food school will front the square internally and York Street.

The council has been looking for a solution in breathing new life into the prime site after it was forced to encase the building in scaffolding to support the structure as well as protect the public from falling masonry - costing the council more than £12,000 per week.

Council leader Mike Whitby, who is also a councillor for Harborne, said the project was a winner on a number of levels.

“The ‘School Yard’ proposals are extremely exciting, and will no doubt elevate Harborne’s status, and enhance it as a major destination for culinary excellence," he said.

"The Clock Tower is a very important building for Harborne and revitalising it is fundamental for the High Street - and I am so pleased to see proposals which bring it back into use by returning it to its educational roots.”

Mr Edginton was previously a director of Birmingham Development Company, which delivered the Mailbox and the Cube, and was retained as a director of the Cube after BDC was put into administration by the building’s funders when the project was unfinished.

He has since overseen the successful delivery of the project and major lettings to the Highways Agency, the Law Society, Marco Pierre White and celebrity hairdresser Adee Phelan. Earlier in his career he was instrumental in delivering Fort Dunlop in a joint venture project with Urban Splash.

Read More http://www.birminghampost.net/birmin...#ixzz1nPvy0CrV

[U475 Foxtrot]

and do you know BCC sold it for £100k with a 125 year lease.

3 bed terrace house round here can cost over £400k

Here's a general Harborne thread http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1111577

[ReissOmari]

This could work, I think the high street in general needs a make-over, like the former A38 in Northfield has had, Harborne is looking very tired at the moment

[adamdalziel]

I was thinking the other day, call me crazy, if creating a 'shared space' for pedestrians and car drivers on the Harborne high st. would work. You see it more in France; where the road and pavement are one and the same, cobbled over, no road markings. Drivers don't know who's got right of way so get confused and and slow right down!

[sefton66]

was on midlands today last week, there's one in cov an old man got hit and later died so there's been a lot of questions asked about if they are safe or not

[woodhousen]

shared surfaces are a delightful idea and i try soo often to get developers to include them... but alas they dont overly sit comfortably with the british mindset.... in the uk streets are for cars, but things like trams, pedestrians, and cyclists on them and people just seem to get utterly confused!

[morestoreysplease]

Originally Posted by ReissOmari

This could work, I think the high street in general needs a make-over, like the former A38 in Northfield has had, Harborne is looking very tired at the moment

This food hub will be a brilliant addition and I also agree about the tiredness of Harborne High St. Harborne hasn't got that bohemian look of grand old Moseley so it has to rely on a mix of ugly 60s, 90s modern and some old but not so big frontages. I think the only way to improve it is to maybe design a consistent "Harborne shop front look" and widen the pavements slightly but then there can be no street parking thus killing the passing trade. A tough one.

[sefton66]

Bump, app now gone in

Application Details
Application Number 2012/02600/PA
Application Type Listed Building*
Site Address The Clock Tower 106 High Street Harborne Birmingham B17 9NJ*
Proposal Listed building application for external alterations (including lowering of window cills) am internal alterations in association with change of use from adult education centre (use class D1) to mixed use development comprising A1 and A3 units, and a food school (use class D1)

[woodhousen]

brilliant.... cant wait to see the details on the planning application

[ReissOmari]

There are already some details in there, it actually looks like the car park in Eastside lol

[sefton66]

links to elevations

http://eplanning.birmingham.gov.uk/N...rod_DC_PLANAPP

http://eplanning.birmingham.gov.uk/N...rod_DC_PLANAPP

http://eplanning.birmingham.gov.uk/N...rod_DC_PLANAPP

[sefton66]

BUMP

Approved, Aiming to be on site this year, completion for end of 2013 and 2 of the Restaurants already let...

New food zone to dine out on blossoming culinary reputation
By Alun Thorne Jun 14 2012on emailShare on print

The city’s burgeoning status as a foodie’s paradise has been given a multi-million pound boost with a string of new restaurants – as the new council put the growing sector at the heart of its first manifesto.

Planners have given the green light to a new £6 million scheme around the Clock Tower in Harborne – which will include three restaurants and a cookery school – while this week also saw the San Carlo group launch its new Fumo restaurant in the city centre.

The region is also set to welcome another award winning chef after the owners of the Hogarth’s Hotel in Dorridge announced that the two Michelin-starred Martin Blunos was joining as culinary director for a new brasserie and upgraded restaurant.

The glut of new investment came as Birmingham City Council leader Sir Albert Bore announced a new food zone in the east of the city bringing together businesses from across the sector as part of his first major policy announcement since regaining power with Labour last month.

A business park will be set up for a cluster of firms in the food distribution and processing line where the firms will share a number of key facilities and good links to the motorway network. They will benefit from economic growth zone status.

The School Yard scheme in Harborne is a mixed use project being developed by EDG Property, Cube director Neil Edginton’s new venture, and will see the buildings around the Clock Tower – which has been covered in scaffolding for almost two years – transformed into a new food hub with a new public square and apartments.

The landmark scheme has already let the two restaurants to upmarket Italian chain Prezzo – which has teamed up with celebrity chef Aldo Zilli – and a new Mediterranean offering from Chris Kelly’s Metro Group, the company behind the successful Metro bars on Cornwall Street and in Solihull as well as the White Horse in Balsall Common.


Chris Kelly, managing director of Metro Group, said: “The Harborne site is part of the Metro Group’s expansion which has always been on the cards once the financial situation allowed. I think Harborne is a fantastic suburb of Birmingham and perfect for us and I could see us in places like Sutton Coldfield or Moseley as well.”

While the group’s other venues are more traditional, Mr Kelly – who owns the company with business partner Alastair Tyson – said the new restaurant would be tapping into a different kind of experience. He said: “I don’t want to use the word tapas as that makes you think just Spanish when I’d much rather Metro continental. This is going to be smaller sharing plates with continental wines and beers. This will be a smaller venue to our others with a lovely alfresco overlooking the new square catering for around 80 covers so we will have to think differently about how we prepare and serve food as we look more towards the grazing style of eating.”

Prezzo chief executive Jonathan Kaye, said he was confident the restaurant would prove popular.

Chat, Make Friends & Play Bingo at Mecca
He said: “It is especially pleasing as it will be our first restaurant in Birmingham. We are confident that our Italian restaurant will appeal to people of all ages and be a great addition to the town’s social scene”.

Both restaurants are hoping to open next year after Birmingham City Council’s planning committee gave the School Yard scheme – which has been drawn up by Bob Ghosh’s K4 Architects – full planning and listed building consent which will see the old school building restored along with the old headmaster’s house, the creation of a new square in the old playground and a new apartment block.




The Kitchen cookery school is the brainchild of the Jayne Bradley and will run courses for the public and the local community.

Mr Edginton said the vigorous support of the council was testament to the quality of the scheme on the landmark site that has been wrapped in scaffolding for almost two years because of structural problems.

“From the outset we have seen terrific support from the local community and the council for our proposal for this important site and getting the full consent so smoothly is testament to how efficient the planning process in the city can be if you engage properly and provide the right information to support the right scheme.

“This is a project that will play a key role in continuing the ongoing regeneration of one Birmingham’s favourite suburbs and the announcement of two new restaurants – one from a well known local independent and a great brand coming to the city for the first time – is great for the local economy. Combined with the cookery school, the public space the apartments, we hope this is going to create a real destination for food lovers and a great asset for Harborne.”

Mr Edginton said it was intended to get on site this year, get the listed building complete by mid-2013 and the new building complete by end of 2013.

Read More http://www.birminghampost.net/birmin...#ixzz1xmt077wg

[woodhousen]

i also hear a rumour the architect is planning on buying one of the apartments.... ;o)

[sefton66]

Off topic but...

A business park will be set up for a cluster of firms in the food distribution and processing line where the firms will share a number of key facilities and good links to the motorway network. They will benefit from economic growth zone status.

could they use the income from private tennants of this new Business Park to fund a new wholesale markets? surely it would make sense?

[GrAfiK_248]

Originally Posted by woodhousen

i also hear a rumour the architect is planning on buying one of the apartments.... ;o)

not quite true....close though.

[woodhousen]

lol.... close enough

[morestoreysplease]

Talking about clock towers - the corner building in Northfield housing a clock has been empty for a couple of years since the long-standing travel agents shut. This would make a great place for a cafe, dare I say a Starbucks or Costa! Yes Northfield citizens prepare to have a cafe culture! Strange demographic has Northfield with half of Bournville and half of Allens Cross shopping there.