National Westminster House
Encyclopedia
103 Colmore Row is a building on Colmore Row
, Birmingham
, England once owned by NatWest
. It is now owned by the developer British Land
who received planning permission in September 2008 to replace the tower with a 160 metres (525 ft) office skyscraper.
The current building is a 23 storey structure with entrances on Colmore Row and Newhall Street
. Designed by John Madin
, it is of the Brutalist style
, contrasting the traditional Victorian architectural styles in the immediate area. Although, the pre-cast concrete panels on the exterior, which were common on commercial buildings of the time, rather than in-situ concrete do make the building differ from classic Brutalism.
Designs for the building were first publicised in 1964 and it was remarked that it had drawn inspiration from the University of Pittsburgh
by Louis Kahn
. The designs showed a two storey banking hall with a rectangular tower with horizontal ribbon windows. It also showed a service tower facing on to Newhall Street. This design differed significantly to the one that was approved by Birmingham City Council. The scheme also included a five storey office block to the west of the site that was separated from it by an L-shaped courtyard. This office block was later reclad and increased to eight storeys in 1996-7 so that it reads as a separate building. The entire scheme was named the "Colmore Centre". The first phase of the scheme, which consisted of the construction of the banking hall, was completed in 1969. Construction of the tower began in 1973 and was completed three years later at a total cost of £3.5 million.
The building was constructed so that it was not purely occupied by the National Westminster Bank but could also be let to tenants so that the bank could maximise the profitability of the site. However, the building proved difficult to let and was never fully occupied with the only major corporation to take office space in the tower was Eversheds
. The building has been vacant since 2003.
There are numerous interesting features including the original aluminium-cast banking hall doors, which consist of an abstract triangle design based on the NatWest logo and are painted to resemble bronze. The banking hall itself has a coffered ceiling of plasterboard covered in gold leaf and Travertine marble floors and skirtings. The exterior is covered in abstract plaster murals and bronze matt ceramic tiles. The lift shaft and two ventilation towers are constructed using brick. The structure was constructed of precast concrete with waffle concrete floor slabs. There are four plant floors at the top of the tower and 100 car park spaces in a basement car park that has been left disused upon the discovery of asbestos. The office block was accessed via a stainless steel surround doorway on Newhall Street, where the land begins to drop, exposing the ventilation grills for the basement. The entrance here appears to be of a later date to the rest of the building. The office block has a service core at the centre of each floor, consisting of a large service duct, lavatories, four lift shafts and staircase. The lifts have stainless steel doors and the lift lobby has Travertine panelling on the walls. There is a kitchen on the twentieth floor which retains its original green panels and equipment, such as the dumbwaiter
. The NatWest logo was attached to the west side of the building, although has since been removed leaving only the bracketing. It is believed that considerable efforts were made to reduce the cost of the tower's construction, which took place during a time when rising oil prices ended the development boom of the 1960s making an increasingly hostile economic climate. Examples of cost-cutting measures employed during the construction of the building include the use of plasterboard to mimic concrete on the banking hall's ceiling and the use of an alternative metal to bronze for the banking hall doors.
Upon completion, it formed a prominent point on the Birmingham skyline and continues to do so. It is also one of the most modern buildings and the tallest structure in the Colmore Row and Environs Conservation Area, and has become a frequent perching point for the city centre's Peregrine Falcon
s. Architectural critic Andy Foster
described the building as being "the most important Brutalist commercial building in the city, disastrous in context but with its own tremendous integrity."
acquired the freehold of the tower from Omega Land for £25 million. They announced their intentions to demolish the tower and replace it with another office tower. This will be their first development outside of London.
British Land commissioned Hamilton Architects to design the tower and between 9 October and 11 October 2007, they hosted a public consultation in the banking hall of 103 Colmore Row to showcase their proposals. The proposal at the public consultation was 163 metres (534.8 ft) tall to the top of a light mast and consisted of 28 occupiable office floors and three plant levels. The tower would be the tallest building in the city, only surpassed by the proposed VTP200. It had a roof height of 137 metres (449 ft). GVA Grimley have been hired as planning consultants and the project will cost £160 million.
A planning application was submitted to Birmingham City Council
by GVA Grimley on behalf of British Land on 25 April 2008 for the tower with alterations made to that exhibited in October 2007. It was registered by the city council on the same day was given a planning application reference number of C/02353/08/FUL. A cheque made payable to Birmingham City Council of £61,265 was submitted with the planning application. The proposal was summarised on the Birmingham City Council Planning Department website as:
Alterations were made to the height, with it being reduced by 3.5 metres (11 ft) to 159.5 metres (523 ft) and the roof height to 134.5 metres (441 ft). The new design also had a further four floors of reception and retail space with the Colmore Row elevation consisting of a four storey colonnade
. The tower will also have a green roof to act as a natural habitat for protected bird species and will also provide a 30% reduction in energy use. British Land also hope to achieve a BREEAM 'Excellent' rating for the building. As it is proposed to be constructed on the highest ground in the city centre, it will be one of the most prominent buildings on the skyline. Savills
will market the building and it is thought over 2,500 jobs will be created as a result.
The proposal initially received the backing of the Birmingham Civic Society who said that they were 90% happy with the design, however the organisation reversed their decision. The project also met objections from the Twentieth Century Society and the Victorian Society who commented that they were "extremely disappointed" with the proposal. After the public consultation, efforts were made to seek granting the building listed building status from English Heritage
. Upon the submission of the planning application, English Heritage wrote to Birmingham City Council that they had concluded that the building should not be listed due to the fact that whilst the building had good qualities of massing, it lacked the high degree of sophisticated architectural detailing that would be expected of a building from this period. They also said that modifications made to the building in the 1990s had considerably compromised the building's architecture and that the interior lacked coherence, although they did comment that the interior of the banking hall did contain many interesting original features.
The proposal received planning permission from Birmingham City Council in late-September 2008. It was closely contested with six councillors voting against the scheme and seven voting for it.
Colmore Row
Colmore Row is a street in the centre of Birmingham, England, running from Victoria Square to just beyond Snow Hill station. It is traditionally the city's most prestigious business address....
, Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
, England once owned by NatWest
National Westminster Bank
National Westminster Bank Plc, commonly known as NatWest, is the largest retail and commercial bank in the United Kingdom and has been part of The Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc since 2000. The Royal Bank of Scotland Group is ranked as the second largest bank in the world by assets...
. It is now owned by the developer British Land
British Land
The British Land Company plc is one of the largest property development and investment companies in the United Kingdom. The firm switched to Real Estate Investment Trust status when REITs were introduced in the United Kingdom in January 2007. It is headquartered in London...
who received planning permission in September 2008 to replace the tower with a 160 metres (525 ft) office skyscraper.
Current building
Newhall Street
Newhall Street is a street located in Birmingham, England.Newhall Street stretches from Colmore Row in the city centre by St Phillip's Cathedral in a north-westerly direction towards the Jewellery Quarter. Originally the road was the driveway to New Hall occupied by the Colmore family...
. Designed by John Madin
John Madin
John Hardcastle Dalton Madin is an English architect. He was born in Moseley, Birmingham on 23 March 1924. His company, known as John H D Madin & Partners from 1962 and the John Madin Design Group from 1968, were active in Birmingham for over 30 years. Some of the buildings his company designed...
, it is of the Brutalist style
Brutalist architecture
Brutalist architecture is a style of architecture which flourished from the 1950s to the mid 1970s, spawned from the modernist architectural movement.-The term "brutalism":...
, contrasting the traditional Victorian architectural styles in the immediate area. Although, the pre-cast concrete panels on the exterior, which were common on commercial buildings of the time, rather than in-situ concrete do make the building differ from classic Brutalism.
Designs for the building were first publicised in 1964 and it was remarked that it had drawn inspiration from the University of Pittsburgh
University of Pittsburgh
The University of Pittsburgh, commonly referred to as Pitt, is a state-related research university located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded as Pittsburgh Academy in 1787 on what was then the American frontier, Pitt is one of the oldest continuously chartered institutions of...
by Louis Kahn
Louis Kahn
Louis Isadore Kahn was an American architect, based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. After working in various capacities for several firms in Philadelphia, he founded his own atelier in 1935...
. The designs showed a two storey banking hall with a rectangular tower with horizontal ribbon windows. It also showed a service tower facing on to Newhall Street. This design differed significantly to the one that was approved by Birmingham City Council. The scheme also included a five storey office block to the west of the site that was separated from it by an L-shaped courtyard. This office block was later reclad and increased to eight storeys in 1996-7 so that it reads as a separate building. The entire scheme was named the "Colmore Centre". The first phase of the scheme, which consisted of the construction of the banking hall, was completed in 1969. Construction of the tower began in 1973 and was completed three years later at a total cost of £3.5 million.
The building was constructed so that it was not purely occupied by the National Westminster Bank but could also be let to tenants so that the bank could maximise the profitability of the site. However, the building proved difficult to let and was never fully occupied with the only major corporation to take office space in the tower was Eversheds
Eversheds
Eversheds LLP is an international law firm headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is one of the 50 largest law firms in the world measured by revenues. In 2009/10 it achieved total revenues of £355.2 million, making it the ninth-largest UK-based law firm by this measurement, and profits per...
. The building has been vacant since 2003.
There are numerous interesting features including the original aluminium-cast banking hall doors, which consist of an abstract triangle design based on the NatWest logo and are painted to resemble bronze. The banking hall itself has a coffered ceiling of plasterboard covered in gold leaf and Travertine marble floors and skirtings. The exterior is covered in abstract plaster murals and bronze matt ceramic tiles. The lift shaft and two ventilation towers are constructed using brick. The structure was constructed of precast concrete with waffle concrete floor slabs. There are four plant floors at the top of the tower and 100 car park spaces in a basement car park that has been left disused upon the discovery of asbestos. The office block was accessed via a stainless steel surround doorway on Newhall Street, where the land begins to drop, exposing the ventilation grills for the basement. The entrance here appears to be of a later date to the rest of the building. The office block has a service core at the centre of each floor, consisting of a large service duct, lavatories, four lift shafts and staircase. The lifts have stainless steel doors and the lift lobby has Travertine panelling on the walls. There is a kitchen on the twentieth floor which retains its original green panels and equipment, such as the dumbwaiter
Dumbwaiter
Dumbwaiter may refer to:* Dumbwaiter , a freight elevator or lift between building floors* Lazy Susan, a small rotating table or set of cabinets used for serving food* An auxiliary serving table or cart....
. The NatWest logo was attached to the west side of the building, although has since been removed leaving only the bracketing. It is believed that considerable efforts were made to reduce the cost of the tower's construction, which took place during a time when rising oil prices ended the development boom of the 1960s making an increasingly hostile economic climate. Examples of cost-cutting measures employed during the construction of the building include the use of plasterboard to mimic concrete on the banking hall's ceiling and the use of an alternative metal to bronze for the banking hall doors.
Upon completion, it formed a prominent point on the Birmingham skyline and continues to do so. It is also one of the most modern buildings and the tallest structure in the Colmore Row and Environs Conservation Area, and has become a frequent perching point for the city centre's Peregrine Falcon
Peregrine Falcon
The Peregrine Falcon , also known as the Peregrine, and historically as the Duck Hawk in North America, is a widespread bird of prey in the family Falconidae. A large, crow-sized falcon, it has a blue-gray back, barred white underparts, and a black head and "moustache"...
s. Architectural critic Andy Foster
Andy Foster
Andy Foster , is the current Executive Director of the Georgia Athletic and Entertainment Commission and former professional mixed martial artist.Foster is married and his wife's name is Sonja....
described the building as being "the most important Brutalist commercial building in the city, disastrous in context but with its own tremendous integrity."
Approved replacement
In December 2006, British LandBritish Land
The British Land Company plc is one of the largest property development and investment companies in the United Kingdom. The firm switched to Real Estate Investment Trust status when REITs were introduced in the United Kingdom in January 2007. It is headquartered in London...
acquired the freehold of the tower from Omega Land for £25 million. They announced their intentions to demolish the tower and replace it with another office tower. This will be their first development outside of London.
British Land commissioned Hamilton Architects to design the tower and between 9 October and 11 October 2007, they hosted a public consultation in the banking hall of 103 Colmore Row to showcase their proposals. The proposal at the public consultation was 163 metres (534.8 ft) tall to the top of a light mast and consisted of 28 occupiable office floors and three plant levels. The tower would be the tallest building in the city, only surpassed by the proposed VTP200. It had a roof height of 137 metres (449 ft). GVA Grimley have been hired as planning consultants and the project will cost £160 million.
A planning application was submitted to Birmingham City Council
Birmingham City Council
The Birmingham City Council is the body responsible for the governance of the City of Birmingham in England, which has been a metropolitan district since 1974. It is the most populated local authority in the United Kingdom with, following a reorganisation of boundaries in June 2004, 120 Birmingham...
by GVA Grimley on behalf of British Land on 25 April 2008 for the tower with alterations made to that exhibited in October 2007. It was registered by the city council on the same day was given a planning application reference number of C/02353/08/FUL. A cheque made payable to Birmingham City Council of £61,265 was submitted with the planning application. The proposal was summarised on the Birmingham City Council Planning Department website as:
Demolition of office building & redevelopment to provide 35 storey office building with ground floor retail (class A1), financial & professional services (class A2) and restaurant/cafe (class A3) uses.
Alterations were made to the height, with it being reduced by 3.5 metres (11 ft) to 159.5 metres (523 ft) and the roof height to 134.5 metres (441 ft). The new design also had a further four floors of reception and retail space with the Colmore Row elevation consisting of a four storey colonnade
Colonnade
In classical architecture, a colonnade denotes a long sequence of columns joined by their entablature, often free-standing, or part of a building....
. The tower will also have a green roof to act as a natural habitat for protected bird species and will also provide a 30% reduction in energy use. British Land also hope to achieve a BREEAM 'Excellent' rating for the building. As it is proposed to be constructed on the highest ground in the city centre, it will be one of the most prominent buildings on the skyline. Savills
Savills
Savills plc is a global real estate services provider listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. They have an international network of more than 200 offices and associates throughout the Americas, the UK, continental Europe, Asia Pacific, Africa and the Middle...
will market the building and it is thought over 2,500 jobs will be created as a result.
The proposal initially received the backing of the Birmingham Civic Society who said that they were 90% happy with the design, however the organisation reversed their decision. The project also met objections from the Twentieth Century Society and the Victorian Society who commented that they were "extremely disappointed" with the proposal. After the public consultation, efforts were made to seek granting the building listed building status from English Heritage
English Heritage
English Heritage . is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...
. Upon the submission of the planning application, English Heritage wrote to Birmingham City Council that they had concluded that the building should not be listed due to the fact that whilst the building had good qualities of massing, it lacked the high degree of sophisticated architectural detailing that would be expected of a building from this period. They also said that modifications made to the building in the 1990s had considerably compromised the building's architecture and that the interior lacked coherence, although they did comment that the interior of the banking hall did contain many interesting original features.
The proposal received planning permission from Birmingham City Council in late-September 2008. It was closely contested with six councillors voting against the scheme and seven voting for it.