Brindleyplace is a large mixed-use canalside development, in the Westside district of Birmingham, England. It was named after Brindley Place, the name of the street (in turn named after the 18th-century canal engineer James Brindley) around which it is built.Google Map showing Brindleyplace It was developed by the Argent Group from 1993 onwards.
In addition to shops, bars and restaurants, Brindleyplace is home to the National Sea Life Centre, Royal Bank of Scotland, Orion Media, Ikon Gallery of art and the Crescent Theatre. The site covers 17 acres (69,000 m2) of mixed-use redevelopment - the UK's largest such project.BirminghamUK: Brindleyplace The Birmingham Canal Navigations Main Line Canal separates Brindleyplace from the International Convention Centre, although there are linking bridges. The National Indoor Arena, Old Turn Junction and bars of Broad Street are nearby and it is easily accessible and within walking distance of the main bus, metro (tram) and rail routes.
History
The area occupied by Brindleyplace was, at the height of Birmingham's industrial past, the site of factories, however, by the 1970s as Britain's manufacturing went into decline, the factories closed down and the buildings lay derelict for many years.
Birmingham City Council's aim was to create an environment of water features, walkways and new office and leisure buildings, that would open out onto the adjacent canal. The scheme was assembled by the council in the 1980s. The council were also seeing success with the construction of the International Convention Centre with the Symphony Hall, and the National Indoor Arena. A development brief was drawn up, identifying the site as an area to attract people to complement the convention centre.
Initial proposals were drawn up by Merlin, who teamed with developers Shearwater. However, Merlin pulled out of the scheme and were replaced by Rosehaugh. Rosehaugh had paid £26 million for the site in 1990. Rosehaugh revised Merlin's retail-led scheme to include more office space and a residential element. By 1992, a detailed set of proposals which included retail and restaurants with a central square had been agreed. However, Rosehaugh went into receivership by the end of the year. Argent took over the scheme, paying £3 million to the receivers. Argent slightly amended the plans by separating the residential element from the rest of the scheme and commencing construction of the Water's Edge first, along with an office building.
By 1995, when Argent refinanced the scheme, the land value was back over £25 million. The Water's Edge was trading successfully and the housing element, Symphony Court, had sold all of its units. The price for the average family house in the scheme was over £200,000. Short term finance was supplied by Hypobank.
Buildings
A variety of architects were used to design the buildings in the complex to create a range of architectural styles. The masterplan was designed by Terry Farrell. Buildings One, Two, Four and Six Brindleyplace together with the Hilton Garden Inn were all built by Carillion, as was the conversion of the Ikon Gallery from a Victorian school.Carillion Fact-sheet
All the buildings are low-rise, with the tallest being Eleven Brindleyplace completed in 2009 at , and the second-tallest is Three Brindleyplace at .Skyscrapernews: Three Brindleyplace Eight Brindleyplace is the third-tallest with a height of , although it has more floors than Three Brindleyplace.Skyscrapernews: Eight Brindleyplace +Architects involved in the scheme Building Architect Usage Completion Central Square Townshend Landscape Architects Square ?? Crescent Theatre Terry Farrell/John Chatwin Theatre 1998 Oozells Square Townshend Landscape Architects Square ?? Water's Edge Benoy Retail September 1994 Multi-storey car park Benoy Car park ?? Ikon Gallery Levitt Bernstein Art museum 1997 Brindleyplace Café CZWG Café ?? Hilton Garden Inn Hulme Upright Weedon Hotel 2000s Symphony Court Lyons Sleeman Hoare Residential 1995 National Sea Life Centre Foster + Partners Aquarium June 1996 Austin Court (IET) Roger Beale Office March 1997 Greenall's John Dixon & Associates Public house 2000s One Brindleyplace Anthony Peake Associates Office October 1995 Two Brindleyplace Allies and Morrison Office June 1997 Three Brindleyplace Demetri Porphyrios Office April 1998 Four Brindleyplace Stanton Williams Office 1999 Five Brindleyplace Sidell Gibson Partnership Office 1996 Six Brindleyplace Allies and Morrison Office and retail 2000 Seven Brindleyplace Porphyrios Associates Office 2004 Eight Brindleyplace Sidell Gibson Partnership Office 2002 Nine Brindleyplace Associated Architects Office 1999 Ten Brindleyplace Sidell Gibson Partnership Office 2004 Eleven Brindleyplace Glenn Howells Architects Office 2009
Office buildings
One Brindleyplace One Brindleyplace is a six-storey office building fronting onto central square and is occupied by Deutsche Bank, GVA Grimley and Savills. It provides of office space and 134 car parking spaces. It was the only new office building to be completed in Birmingham in 1995. In 2013, Deutsche Bank extended its lease for another 15 years. The headquarters of the Birmingham Organising Committee of the 2022 Commonwealth Games are also located in One Brindleyplace and has taken up the , five-floor office until December 2022.
Two Brindleyplace Two Brindleyplace is a six-storey office building with of office space. It is built of Marshalls clay brick. The brickwork is a free-standing Flemish bond. By utilising a outer leaf it was possible to carry, wind loads between floors (3.9 m) and tie the brickwork laterally to the floor plates only.Marshalls Case Study: Bankers Move to Brindleyplace More than 1,000 Lloyds Banking Group employees work in the building. The departments based at Brindleyplace include the International Department and Concerns. The top floor houses a large canteen area with seating for around 150 staff.
Three Brindleyplace Three Brindleyplace is occupied by Avison Young (Commercial Property Advisers), Towers Watson and Landmark Space. It has a full-height glazed atrium which consists of a light post-and-spandrel structure. There are three passenger lifts and 23 on-site car parking spaces. Construction commenced in 1996 and was completed in April 1998.
Four Brindleyplace Four Brindleyplace consists of of office space with a bank, restaurant and bar on the ground floor. Caffe Nero Deloitte & Touche, Michael Page, Mercer Human Resource Consulting and Perceptive Informatics are all tenants in the building. The services engineers were Hoare Lea & Partners, whilst Silk & Frazier were the quantity surveyors. It was the winner of the "Best of Best" award.MJN Colston: Brindleyplace It received top accolades in the British Council for Offices Awards 2000 and finalist status in the 2004 Brickwork Awards.
Five Brindleyplace Five Brindleyplace was pre-let to BT in 1994 with design work starting in December of the same year. Construction began in June 1995. BT moved into the offices in February 1997 and used it as their regional headquarters. It provides of office space. The construction used the curtain walling system.Alcoa: Principles of Curtain Walling Argent worked with BT to provide 'green' features such as an upflow air conditioning system with heat recovery, openable windows and energy saving lighting and controls. BT vacated the building at the beginning of 2011. After a £8m makeover, Deutsche Bank leased the majority of the building from 2014. PLACES Birmingham Residential Lettings and Sales agent occupy the central ground floor office space.
Six Brindleyplace Six Brindleyplace provides of office space as well as retail units that look over Oozells Square. Whilst the concept architect was Allies and Morrison, the production architect was Weedon Partnership. Curtains Consulting Engineers were the structural engineers. It cost £12.3 million.George Demetri appreciates the qualities of Number Six Brindleyplace - Brick Bulletin (Winter 2001) It houses Birmingham Ceremonies, a production management company appointed by the 2022 Commonwealth Games to produce and deliver the Games' opening and closing ceremonies. It a joint venture by GBA (Gary Beestone Associates) and Done and Dusted.
Seven Brindleyplace Seven Brindleyplace provides of office space. Construction commenced in 2002 and lasted two years. The building has a concrete frame with external walls in self-supporting brick construction with ashlar stone rustication and stone dressings. The windows are detailed in metal, as is the top storey and terminated cornice.
Eight Brindleyplace Construction began on Eight Brindleyplace in July 2000. It provides of office space, situated below 35 fully serviced apartments, in addition to ground-floor retail and restaurant units. The 14-storey structure is split into nine floors of office space and five floors of residential apartments. Glamalco installed a variety of Kawneer's precision-engineered curtain walling and window products throughout the building in a partnering contract with Argent valued at approximately £1.1 million.New Design Challenges Result From Royal Bank Of Scotland's Pre Let Of Argent's Last Brindleyplace Buildings - Alcoa (31 January 2003)
Nine Brindleyplace Nine Brindleyplace consists of of restaurant space, of office space and 60 parking spaces. It looks over Broad Street. It is the location of Number Nine the Gallery, a modern and fine art gallery established in 1999 by Lee Benson.Number Nine The Gallery: About Us It is also home to Unity Trust Bank, Orion Media including the studios of three radio stations, Free Radio Birmingham, Free Radio 80s and Free Radio Coventry & Warwickshire and Coast to Coast (Restaurant) and Bar on the ground floor.
Ten Brindleyplace Ten Brindleyplace has of office space as well as a retail unit overlooking Broad Street.Brindleyplace: The Buildings Sainsbury's Local and NatWest occupy the retail units on the ground floor.
Eleven Brindleyplace The development and the surrounding canal apartments were completed at an estimated cost of around £350 million. A planning application for the final phase of the development at Eleven Brindleyplace, Brunswick Square,Skyscrapernews.com entry for 11 Brindleyplace was submitted in September 2006.Plans for final phase of Brindleyplace - Birmingham Post (4 September 2006) The 13-storey building was deferred over Section 106 on 2 November 2006.Brindley offices get go-ahead - Birmingham Post (3 November 2006) The building was designed by Glenn Howells Architects and is located to the rear of the Novotel hotel. It was not included in the masterplan however has been described as a "key component" for the Brindleyplace scheme. There were some issues raised over the height of the tall building in the predominantly low-rise Brindleyplace development. The distinctive glazed façade to Eleven Brindleyplace is now a feature of the development and was designed by CJN Consulting Engineers Ltd. Construction commenced in February 2007 and the office building was topped out in May 2008. Tenants include Capita Symonds, Friend LLP, Robert Walters, the West Midlands headquarters of the Institute of Directors, Hettle Andrews, Cohort Software, Argent and Colliers International and Global Radio with stations Heart West Midlands and Capital Birmingham.
NatWest Group Seven, Eight and Ten Brindleyplace are all owned by NatWest Group and are all linked to form a core building. At the time that the company decided to rent all three buildings, only Eight Brindleyplace had been completed and was designed to be a standalone building. As a result, the windows that were removed from the building so that a connection to the other two could be formed were reused in Seven and Ten Brindleyplace as to not put the windows to waste.
Water's Edge