Timber Yard | Pershore Street | Mixed-Use | 7/14fl | 46m | Comp.

RalphGuy said:

^^ Wow. Way to go SMUK. Give us some bad news and then hit us with some great news.

Why did they reduce this one from nineteen floors?

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Im sorry but the tower was just an indication of what could be in Smithfield, this isnt even a proposal at the moment. Think we are getting a bit ahead of ourselves tbh guys Re: 42 storey at Smithfield

Although I don't want to deviate too far away from this development, SMUK to be fair to him has taken that from the D&A:

Birmingham Smithfield Masterplan

Published in September 2016, the Smithfield Masterplan sets out proposals for 16 Hectares of development adjacent to the site.

These proposals include new retail markets, family leisure, cultural buildings, homes, public squares and transport facilities. Delivering 300,000sq.m of new floorspace, 2,000 new homes and an investment value of over £500 million.

The Big City masterplan maps zones of potential high rise and reduced height zones. Interestingly the site lies between the two and in the more recent Smithfield masterplan a 42 storey tower is proposed inside the reduced height zone.

All 100 metres from Timber Yard.
Moving on..

Bear Would Ian said:

Yeah Daniboy, I'm loving the look of that brickwork and it looks like that last picture is of the southern side - Skinner Lane, with double height retail along the length of it with the street having a pedestrianised feel to it, very nice.

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I think you're right but I don't think Skinner Lane is the best place for retail. It faces the back of the existing warehouse building and the Village pub.

Retail would be better on Hurst Street and Pershore Street. Off course if they want retail on Skinner Street as well I'd be happy with that. The more retail and commercial the better.

Kingsheathen said:

I think you're right but I don't think Skinner Lane is the best place for retail. It faces the back of the existing warehouse building and the Village pub.

Retail would be better on Hurst Street and Pershore Street. Off course if they want retail on Skinner Street as well I'd be happy with that. The more retail and commercial the better.

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Yes, Kingheathen, just read page 86 of the Design and Access Statement and it looks like there's five small/medium retail units on Hurst Street, a large retail unit on the corner of Hurst Street/Skinner La, a medium unit on Skinner Lane, another large corner unit on Skinner La/Pershore St, and two medium units on Pershore St.

Definitely looks like they've done their homework too - in chapter 4 they analysed the local architecture (with photos of 27 buildings in the area) and divided them into three facade types: primary vertical, primary horizontal, and solid brick with 'punctuated' windows, and then applied these types to different areas of the building, so for Hurst Street they used 'primary vertical' as the 'street is narrower than Pershore Street and has a more pedestrian focused rhythm of smaller units and ground floor interaction'.

Anything planned at ground level to compliment Nightingales and the rest of Hurst Street? Bars/restaurants or maybe a small club? With the pedestrianisation further along and the Ringway centre losing its middle bit, this area will be opened up to more than just the current crowd, so hopefully they can do something cool here on the ground.

Bear Would Ian said:

Definitely looks like they've done their homework too - in chapter 4 they analysed the local architecture (with photos of 27 buildings in the area) and divided them into three facade types: primary vertical, primary horizontal, and solid brick with 'punctuated' windows, and then applied these types to different areas of the building, so for Hurst Street they used 'primary vertical' as the 'street is narrower than Pershore Street and has a more pedestrian focused rhythm of smaller units and ground floor interaction'.

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Great to see this neglected area now getting some "investment TLC" Like the scale, matches the Forum a bit higher up Pershore Street.
I think they could have made a miles better opening announcement visuals presentation than what we're seeing here.
In this instance, I think you can guarentee the finished article will look better than these artistic impressions :banana:.

Hmmm. I see they've acknowledged the proposed 'village square' - and then completely disregarded it, trying to pacify us with some 'steps' on Skinner Lane. Reading the D&A they appear to have had a lot of interaction with the planners, amending the massing several times - clearly the Council don't care about their own master plans either.

If they reversed the courtyard access points off Claybrook Street and Skinner Lane they could easily create a small open space at the corner of Hurst Street and Claybrook Street, that would be flanked on three sides and be visually open to Kent Street.

Got to say, I'm very impressed. Not only with the scheme which looks very high quality, but also that this part of the city is being redeveloped. These are the areas of development which will transform Birmingham. It extends the city centre with retail and considering it is such a central location, it's not really acceptable that it has been allowed to become so neglected. Hopefully it will be a catalyst for more development around here.

One question though, why the height reduction?