[brum2003]

BT : someone mentioned £556million replacement for the BT tower...thats an enourmous amount simply for a communication Tower.....on the other hand, if they are thinking of consolidating the switching in the city centre in one building with a tower....that might be about right for costs

 

[brum2003]

Nurton Developments has submitted futuristic plans for the final phase of a £25m redevelopment scheme within the core business area of Birmingham city centre.
The company purchased Priory & Cannon House – which have a combined floorplate of approx 45,000 sq ft – in 2004, and earlier this year launched phase 1 of the redevelopment programme with a £2.5m makeover of Cannon House.
Now, architects are initiating design proposals for phase II of redevelopment, to transform Priory House. Proposed plans for the property will include futuristic glazed from projecting from the new facade, 40,000 sq ft of penthouse office accommodation, and improved basement parking.

 

[brum2003]

A development site (STP) at Bagot Street, Birmingham with an area of 500 sq m has been sold for £75,000 to a private individual.
Chivers Commercial acting for a private limited company.

http://www.multimap.com/maps/#t=l&map=52.48969,-1.89123|17|4&loc=GB:52.48969:-1.89123:17|bagot%20street,%20birmingham|Bagot%20Street,%20BIRMINGHAM,%20B4

 

[brum2003]

UK govt awards West Midlands rail franchise to Go-Ahead Group

The UK government said it has awarded the new West Midlands rail franchise to rail and bus operator Go-Ahead Group PLC.

The Department for Transport (DfT) said London and Birmingham Railway

Ltd has won the contract to run the franchise, which has been created out of part of the former Central Trains operation run by National Express Group PLC.

The company beat off competition from Serco NedRailways West Midlands Limited, a joint venture between Serco Group PLC and NedRailways, the British arm of Dutch state railways.

MTR Corporation UK Limited, part of MTR Corporation of Hong Kong, which won the Transport for London (TfL) contract to run the North London and East London lines, pre-qualified for the competition but declined to bid.

The new franchise will begin on Nov 11 and will run until Sept 19 2015. The DfT has the right to terminate the franchise after six years if the operator fails to meet agreed performance targets.

The franchise will deliver increased capacity, better performance and the

rollout of smartcard technology by 2010.

The West Midlands franchise combines the current Silverlink County services

between London Euston and Northampton, currently run by National Express, with the West Midlands local and regional service groups of Central Trains. The DfT will fund the seven year and 10 month franchise with 1.13 bln stg.

The Dft said there would be a new semi-fast service between London and

Crewe, serving the Trent Valley, and two trains an hour all day between Birmingham and Liverpool and Birmingham and Northampton from December 2008 on the completion of the West Coast Main Line modernisation.

There will also be a fleet of 37 new electric Desiro trains by July 2009, made by German manufacturer Siemens AG (nyse: SI - news - people ), and new class 172 diesel trains to replace the existing class 150 diesels operating on the Snow Hill line services in the Birmingham area by July 2010.

Punctuality and reliability is forecast to rise to 90.7 pct by the end of the franchise.

The DfT said unregulated fare rises will remain at the discretion of the operator and fares for journeys on the London to Northampton route will increase by 3 pct above inflation per annum. Average rises on all other routes within the franchise including those in the West Midlands conurbation are expected to be no higher than RPI plus 1 pct, it said.

The new franchise will be branded London Midland to reflect its geographical market. In its first full year of operation the new franchise is expected to generate total revenue, including subsidy, of nearly 400 mln stg.

Go-Ahead chief executive Keith Ludeman said: 'Our winning bid contains a range of high-quality and value-for-money initiatives which will completely transform passengers' travelling experience -- including continuous improvement in quality, punctuality and reliability of service.'

 

[brum2003]

Thanks for the photos Brummad, and thanks for the info on Cambrian Wharf Sim - this area needs something like that to connect the Convention, Jewellery and Civic Quarters

hey

what's going on a cambrian wharf, I know UCE want to sell of the student halls for development, any other news, can'e find any

D

 

[brum2003]

From the BBC.

City to get new magistrates court
Birmingham is to get a new magistrates court, the government has announced.
The new building, which will replace the existing court in the Victoria Law Courts, Corporation Street, is expected to be ready by 2012.

Secretary of State for Justice, Lord Falconer, said there would be better facilities for witnesses and victims, giving them a safe environment.

Birmingham is one of six places in the country included in a £400m scheme to build and improve court buildings.

isn't this the complex at masshouse ?

 

[brum2003]

The design will be better than CJC as it is at Masshouse but I fear the quality of construction may not hno:

whats the CJC anyone ?

 

[brum2003]

won't it be odd having a courts complex next to apartments/shops/cafes etc etc, I work near to the probabtion service and have seen the people hanging about outside victoria law courts, not pleasant people !!

 

[brum2003]

yeah I saw that last time I was up there, looks ok, isn't it a Rogers building ? nice but seen better by him...shit what have I said, the manchester trolls will be out in force x

 

[brum2003]

hehe, could be worse Brum, could be the Leeds crowd or dare I say it the one leeds man :lol:

don't worry, he's probably to busy sifting through pages of internet stats to be worried about a failing city like ours x

 

[brum2003]

wow, I am glad the council is deciding to keep some suburban tower blocks, if these work they may decide to keep more of them !!

 

[brum2003]

No I'm sorry chaps, I couldn't disagree with you more. These for me epitomise everything that is wrong with our inner city estates, from piling families on top of each other, poor build quality, through to antisocial behaviour. They are indeed iconic, but unfortunately for the wrong reasons - not in an architectural sense, but for the sink estates that they stand in and represent.
They should all be demolished now, and the original municipal planners (if still alive) burnt at the stake; meanwhile the detritus that passes for humanity that the housing dept likes to shove in these blocks - the crackheads, smackheads, drunks, wife beaters and weirdos, should be shipped offshore somewhere; or blown up with the blocks. :rant:

People make slums, not architecture, I know of lots of Low rise estates that have the problems you speak of above :nuts:

 

[brum2003]

To be fair, architecture plays an important part in creating slums. It is no coincidence that the worst areas are generally the worst architecture, masterplanning and urban design. There are some areas of Brum which are not as bad as you would think looking at some of the people (South West I am thinking) and this is partly down to green spaces, wide roads etc.

Conversely, overcrowding and lack of amenities creates problems where they might not normally occur.

For me, a slum happens because: it fills with scum/becomes a dumping ground for difficult council/social services cases, poor quality buildings, poor urban design, lack of maintenance/care (no litter picking, graffiti cleaning etc), low educational standards (and therefore low employment).

thats what I said :nuts:

 

[brum2003]

I know, but I was also pointing out that architecture does have its part to play

you funny man :banana:

 

[brum2003]

their outrageous, I luv em

 

[brum2003]

West Midlands Minister

Liam Byrne (birmingham hidge hill) is the new 'West Midlands Minister' a new power position created to be the champion for the region, he is very close the Brown and worked for him at the treasury I believe

another powerful voice for the city at the heart of government, first time I can remember so many Birmingham people so high up

the only problem is he replaces the idea of city regions

 

[brum2003]

Real News

Wow, its gone dead on here with news. There must be something about to surprise us or happen with the pending developments :cheers:

personally am dying to see the plans for holloway head

 

[brum2003]

Never Shit Golden Chickens

wow, that sounds exciting:banana:

 

[brum2003]

is this one of you guys ?

http://expbirmingham.wordpress.com/images/

really interesting

 

[brum2003]

Anybody know anything about 95 apartments about to go up in Kent Street?
According to todays CN the tender goes in on 13 July and is worth £9.5m

i wonder if its a typo and its really the glen howells one on bromsgrove street, after all that was about 95 apartments and has cleared planning recently, right ? as there are only 2 empty plots on kent street, one very small so it maybe that and another is very large and would be more suited to a development of the size of I-land