Birmingham Central Fire Station (site of)

40859 Views 435 Replies 73 Participants Last post by woodhousen, Jun 16, 2011

bileduct

Discussion Starter · May 10, 2007

Birmingham Council has said an ‘architect of international repute’ is likely to be appointed to an ambitious 40-storey skyscraper scheme in the city.

http://www.ajplus.co.uk/news/news_article/?aid=59675&sid=49

Fire station site?

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jolon

· #2 · May 10, 2007

Oooo, interesting!

It's probably not the fire station site, isn't that listed now? Maybe its the council offices on Lancaster Circus that they are selling off?

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woodhousen

· #3 · May 10, 2007

its looking likely to be the lancaster fly over location from that view but alas have no idea what it is, im gutted as my work has an AJ subscripion but im not there yet!

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woodhousen

· #4 · May 10, 2007

...btw, anyone notice the nice spire on the top of the 40 storey building lol

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stourbridgebaggie

· #5 · May 10, 2007

its huge looks very american from the aston expressway

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GrAfiK_248

· #6 · May 10, 2007

this is great! and the spire...ooo amazing

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AJR

· #7 · May 10, 2007

'Starchitect' - thats a new one.

That image looks more like 50 stories to me. And no I don't see a spire!

Very exciting prospect all the same.

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Gherkin

· #8 · May 10, 2007

40 storeys is hardly ambitious, but as long as it's tall it's good with me

Just design a nice looking building that will ooze through the planning system rather than a wacky tower that causes contoversy please, mr. starchitect?

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stourbridgebaggie

· #9 · May 10, 2007

hopefully wont take ten years either!

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GrAfiK_248

· #10 · May 10, 2007

AJR said:
'Starchitect' - thats a new one.

That image looks more like 50 stories to me. And no I don't see a spire!

Very exciting prospect all the same.

the spire is on the top right of the building

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Blunther

· #11 · May 10, 2007

Oooh goody. Does look huge on that picture, though it could just be the generic 'artist's impression'. I wonder what it's for... offices, resi, hotel, brothel?

A 40 storey brothel would go really wel with our 175m theme park.

Thanks Bileduct, I look forward ot hearing more about it

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Blunther

· #12 · May 10, 2007

woodhousen said:
its looking likely to be the lancaster fly over location from that view but alas have no idea what it is, im gutted as my work has an AJ subscripion but im not there yet!

Well get your arse to work within the next 30 minutes then

hno:

:cheers:

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woodhousen

· #13 · May 10, 2007

hopefullly speaking to my ppl 2moro morning bout it... hopefully some news then... in the mean tie, anyone wana pop into hsmiths and see their copies of aj?

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Erebus555

· #14 · May 10, 2007

Interesting news! And exciting at that! The spire looks ginormous too, and I can just make out the silhouettes of other buildings to be built.

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bileduct

Discussion Starter · #15 · May 10, 2007

Bit of pestering of a better-connected friend...

Birmingham Council has said an ‘architect of international repute’ is likely to be appointed to an ambitious 40-storey skyscraper scheme in the city.

Birmingham-based firm Kinetic AIU has drawn up an initial proposal for the tower (pictured), which will sit on the site of a listed fire station just off the city’s famous Spaghetti Junction, and tenders from a shortlist of potential developers wishing to expand on the scheme are expected later this month.

But, Birmingham City Council (BCC) said that because of the ‘sensitive’ nature of the site, currently owned by the West Midlands Fire Service, any scheme ‘will have to be of exceptional quality, probably by an architect of international repute’.

Kinetic AIU director Bob Ghosh said: ‘The fire station has a unique triangular courtyard. The plan is for the tower to sit in the courtyard with the integrity of the surrounding buildings being retained. It is about design quality and proportion.

‘We are in partnership with a developer but there is no guarantee that we will be retained. If one of the developers came up with an international architect, Birmingham City Council would probably go with them.

‘That would be fine by us as we would have been part of the journey in bringing about a high-quality building,’ Ghosh added.

BCC planning officer, Lesley Shelldrake, said the council wants a building that will ‘mark the entrance to the city.’ But she warned: ‘The site [includes] a listed building and it is in a conservation area so it will be exceptionally difficult to develop satisfactorily.’

The winning tender will be selected late in the summer, and Ghosh said it may take up to a year to gain full planning permission. Construction is expected to take up to two-and-a-half years, with completion scheduled for 2011.

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Erebus555

· #16 · May 10, 2007

^^That 2011 completion date is too early for my liking. I just cannot believe it.

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ILLOGIKAL

· #17 · May 10, 2007

Really good news!! The forums have been dead for the last couple of weeks. It looks massive on that pic, a lot taller than 40 storeys. I hope it breaks the 150m mark, now that would be sweet!!! Isn't the car park across the road possibly going to be having a tower too, looks like this mite be the beginning of Brums next cluster.......GOOD TIMES AHEAD!!!:banana: :banana:

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kids

· #18 · May 10, 2007

Anyone got any photos of this fire station?

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woodhousen

· #19 · May 10, 2007

i have to say im absolutely blown back by this proposal though. as the article says, its on the site of a listed building and in a conservation area. as a result, i can come to two conclusions

1) thre must be a lot to gain from this and this is not going to be a str8 forward task. if pulled off well, this can be amazing, but unless kenetic aiu know something we dont, it does seem an odd choice of sites for a tower!

and

2) they have A LOT of work to do. if you thought replacing the natwest tower with a taller tower was a big job, this one pisses over natwest! theres going to be a lot of angry people, and if we like what we see, this will need all the support it can get!

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Bachy Soletanche

· #20 · May 10, 2007

Well, there's the fire station, but I can't think of any other Historial buildings, only the Law courts/Methodist Hall, but that's on the other side of a 6 lane Motorway, which I would have thought would have been more of an insult than a 40 floor tower.

And why only 40 floors? bah humbug etc etc.

Still nice place for it, would look good from the Aston Expressway

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