Snowhill
Encyclopedia
Snowhill is a mixed-use development by Ballymore
between Snow Hill Queensway and Birmingham Snow Hill station
in Birmingham City Centre
, England. The £500 million phased scheme has been partly completed on the site of a former surface car park adjacent to the railway station. As part of the project, St. Chad's Circus on the Inner Ring Road
has been levelled and reconfigured to create a new square adjacent to St. Chad's Cathedral and a viaduct has been constructed alongside the station in preparation for the extension of the Midland Metro
into the city centre.
When completed, Snowhill will consist of a mixture of Grade A office space, retail units, a hotel and residential apartments in four buildings. The two office buildings with retail units on the ground floor have been designed by Sidell Gibson Architects whilst the five star hotel and residential buildings have been designed by Birmingham based-Glenn Howells
. An underground car park is being constructed beneath the site. Phase 2, a 57 m (187 ft) tall office building with 12 floors was completed in 2009, whilst its neighbour Phase 4, at 75 metres (246 ft) in height with 15 floors, and Phase 3, a residential 40 storey building with a 23 storey hotel, are on hold due to financing issues with investors as a result of the current economic situation. No date has been set for work to recommence. In a major move which will give Birmingham its first five-star hotel, Ballymore confirmed that US operator Starwood Hotels & Resorts
has entered into an agreement to open a new 198 bedroom Westin Hotel & Spa
.
, the site was once owned by the Colmore family who owned large areas of land to the north of the present city centre. The family began to establish road layouts and sell plots of land to builders in the 18th century. The site was one of the these plots and it became the location of Oppenheim's Glassworks. This is the earliest documented glassworks in Birmingham. The glassworks were built in 1757 by Mayer Oppenheim, a London merchant who moved to Birmingham in the same year and who patented red (ruby) glass in 1755. The building ceased to be used as a glasshouse after 1780/81. The site was later cleared to make way for the new Birmingham Snow Hill station
. In 1970, Snow Hill station was redeveloped and the site became a surface car park and remained as such until construction work commenced.
(3.65 acres) site which has been outlined for redevelopment runs along the eastern edge of Birmingham Snow Hill station
, which marks the western boundary of the site. To the north, the site is bounded by Great Charles Street Queensway and St. Chad's Circus on the Inner Ring Road
, and to the east the site is bounded by Snow Hill Queensway. To the south the site is bounded by Colmore Circus. It is located between the City Core and the Gun
and Jewellery Quarter
s. The level of the site drops significantly from Colmore Circus to St. Chad's Circus and also drops from Snow Hill Queensway to the railway station.
There are a number of highrise buildings in the immediate vicinity including 1 Snow Hill Plaza
, which is directly opposite the site. Other nearby highrise buildings include Colmore Plaza, on the site of the former Birmingham Post and Mail Building
, and Colmore Gate
. Shorter buildings include the three office blocks at the entrance to Snow Hill station, Lloyd House - the West Midlands Police
headquarters, The Wesleyan building and 1 Colmore Square. Nearby are the Colmore Row and Environs Conservation Area
and the Steelhouse conservation area
. St. Chad's Cathedral is a Grade II* listed building designed by Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin.
The area has close transport
links. Snow Hill station is one of the three major railway stations in the city centre and provides through rail services to London Marylebone
while the "Jewellery Line
" provides services from Worcester
/Stourbridge
to Leamington Spa
/Stratford
via Birmingham Moor Street railway station
. Snow Hill station is also the terminus of Line 1 of the Midland Metro
which connects to Wolverhampton
. The planned extensions of this line will take the Midland Metro on through the city centre to Five Ways
and on to Dudley
. National Express West Midlands
bus services operate along Snow Hill Queensway and Colmore Circus. A coach station was planned for an undeveloped site opposite the rear of Snow Hill station, however, the plans were shelved and the existing Digbeth Coach Station
is to be redeveloped instead.
adopted the Snow Hill Development Brief for proposals on the site as Supplementary Planning Guidance to the Birmingham Unitary Development Plan. The brief set out planning and urban design guidance for developers interested in developing the site. It also provided a framework for the future development of the wider area around St. Chad's Circus. In May 2002, the brief was adopted as Supplementary Planning Guidance to the Birmingham Plan for use in determining planning applications for the site. The development brief outlined a strategy which incorporated the extension of the Midland Metro
light rail
line and the conversion of Snow Hill Queensway to an 'urban boulevard
'. In converting Snow Hill Queensway into an urban boulevard, St. Chad's Circus would be levelled to enhance the surroundings of St. Chad's Cathedral. The development brief also stated that the development must consist of a series of buildings as opposed to one monolithic building. The tallest of these buildings should be 12 storeys and step down, avoiding the use of false ground levels. An artist's impression of a potential design was produced for the development brief.
and Railtrack
. The brief proposed that the successful developer will be offered a long leasehold interest encompassing both freehold interests with vacant possession on completion. Ballymore and Hammerson
purchased the site for £63 million in 2002. Anglo Irish Bank
loaned approximately £220 million for the development.
s was submitted by agents Drivers Jonas
on behalf of Railtrack
. The outline planning application was submitted on 21 December 2001, although it was not registered by the Planning Department at Birmingham City Council until 30 January 2002. The planning application brief on the Birmingham City Council website said:
The planning committee resolved to grant planning permission, subject to Section 106 and Section 278 agreements, in April 2005. Section 106 agreements were signed on 15 December 2007 between Birmingham City Council, RT Group and Anglo Irish Bank
. The planning application was approved on 19 December 2005, nearly four years after it was submitted. Along with approval, Railtrack were given 47 planning conditions.
The applicant then made it clear that they intended to submit reserved matters
planning applications for the four individual phases for the development. The first of these reserved matters planning applications was for the construction of an internal service road, covered car park, piazza deck and a tram viaduct
. The planning application was submitted by GVA Grimley on behalf of RT Group Developments, a wholly owned subsidiary of Domaine Developments Limited, which is in turn a wholly owned subsidiary of Ballymore. It was submitted on 25 January 2006 and registered on the same day. The Birmingham City Council summarised the planning application as:
The planning application was approved on 9 March 2006.
The second reserved matters planning application was submitted by GVA Grimley on behalf of RT Group Developments. It was submitted on 9 May 2006 and registered by the Planning Department at Birmingham City Council on 27 June 2006. The planning application brief on the local authority's website said:
The planning application was approved by the planning department on 29 June 2006. The developers then sought to revise the masterplan to the site following property market changes, planning policy changes and changes in thoughts over the design of the scheme. The revised masterplan was approved by the council in July 2006.
The third planning application to be submitted was a detailed planning application indicating that the details of the proposal were different to what was approved in the outline planning application. It was submitted on 23 January 2007 by GVA Grimley on behalf of the RT Group, and was registered on the same day. The council's website summarised the planning application details as:
The Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment
(CABE) were invited to comment on the towers. The planning application was deferred by the planning department on 24 July 2007 over Section 106 issues, which had been identified by planning officers prior to the agreement. These issues were later resolved and the planning application was approved.
Submitted on the same day as the third planning application, the third reserved matters planning application was submitted for an office building on Phase 4. The council's website summarised the planning application as:
A detailed planning application requesting permission from the council to modify condition C10 of the outline planning permission to extend the height of the office building to 15 storeys was also submitted on the same day. Both planning applications were approved on 20 August 2007.
Following this, another planning application was submitted for a glazed 'winter garden' between office buildings one and two. It was submitted on 6 November 2007 by GVA Grimley on behalf of RT Group, and was registered on the same day. The consultation process ended on 3 December 2007 and the planning application was approved on 11 December 2007.
The latest planning application to be submitted was to revise the planning application for the hotel and residential towers. The planning application sought permission for the hotel tower to be extended by 72 cm (28 in) in height and the footprint to be extended by 65 cm (26 in) to accommodate an extra 28 hotel rooms. The floor-to-ceiling heights will be reduced by 25 cm (10 in). The total floorspace in the development was increased by 1747 m² (18,804.6 sq ft) to 53086 m² (571,412.9 sq ft). The planning application was submitted on 25 February 2008 and registered on the same day. It was summarised on the council's website as:
On 10 April 2008, it was deferred for an agreement over Section 106 payments.
viaduct
alongside Livery Street car park
to take the Midland Metro
into the city centre. The viaduct will commence at Great Charles Street Queensway, adjacent to the bridge carrying railway services into Snow Hill station, and run along the length of the Snowhill site. It will end at a piazza
deck, from which the Midland Metro will leave the Snowhill site and go onto Colmore Circus, if the extension of Line 1 is approved. The bridge that will carry the Midland Metro over Great Charles Street Queensway will be designed by a separate practice and be part of a separate planning application. The viaduct will be covered in 50 mm (2 in) pebble ballast
. There will be 16 sets of reinforced concrete
columns supporting the viaduct which consists of reinforced concrete beams and a reinforced concrete parapet
. Beneath these will be a service road
for deliveries to the retail units and the hotel. For the construction of the viaduct, Tarmac Precast were awarded a £300,000 contract by Kier Build to manufacture 250 specially designed TY and TYE complimentary edge beams. The beams were manufactured over a six week period Tarmac Precast's Henlade site. The service road will be tarmac
, lined with precast concrete
kerbs, separating the road from the concrete pavement for pedestrians. The concrete deck that will carry the Midland Metro will be 650 mm (26 in) thick. In total, the viaduct will be 220 m (722 ft) long and is being built by the Kier Group
. The viaduct was designed by Alan Baxter and Associates LLP consulting engineers with Sidell Gibson Architects, and is estimated to cost £9 million.
, who won the £66 million contract in January 2007. The building will have an overhanging, slanting wall, facing Livery Street car park. There will be a colonnade
at the entrance, the columns of which will be faced with reconstituted slate
-coloured stone whilst the roof of the colonnade will be a dark grey colour-coated metal panel soffit
. Above the edge of the colonnade will be reconstituted slate-coloured stone panels and dark grey-coloured spandrel panels. On the ground floor, there will be retail units with a varying floor-to-ceiling height. Above this, although below the roof of the colonnade, is the first office floor with a floor-to-ceiling height of 2750 mm (108 in). All the office floors above this have the same floor to ceiling height. The entrance will be surrounded by clear glass with colour-coated metal frames.
The windows are a mixture of clear glass and translucent insulated glass panels that are being fitted into dark grey colour-coated metal frames at random locations on the buildings façade. Covering the windows on the slanted wall are horizontal metal and glass solar fins whilst on the Snow Hill Queensway elevation, the solar fins are being fitted vertically. Between alternate floors there are colour-coated metal spandrel panels.
At the top of the building will be the plant level, which will be hidden from view by a colour-coated metal screen. Around the edge of the building will be a metal or glass balustrade to hide the view of the window cleaning
device. Alongside the plant level will be a gantry
. There will be a total of eleven lifts in the building, spread amongst two core
s, with an additional core containing stairs leading to a ground floor fire exit. There will be two platform lifts on the ground floor for disabled people.
It was announced in June 2006 that Ballymore had signed KPMG
as the main tenant for One Snowhill. The accountancy firm is to rent 11000 square metres (118,403 sq ft) of office space in the building on a 20 year term on floors 7 to 11. It was the largest pre-let in Birmingham since 2002 and the largest outside of London since 2003. KPMG anticipates to commence the phased move of its 1,000 Birmingham workers to the building in 2009. In July 2008, Barclays Commercial Bank
agreed to move its Midlands headquarters to 1 Snowhill. They have taken up 98000 square feet (9,104 m²) of space on floors three to six on a 15 year lease with its own dedicated reception and meeting suite. 1,000 sales and operations staff have moved into the office building from other offices across Birmingham. Jones Lang LaSalle
advised Barclays in the agreement whilst Ballymore was represented by CBRE and Colliers CRE. The pre-let to Barclays is believed to be the reason why they were comfortable to refinance the loan for the construction of the building.
Phase 3, also known as Three Snowhill, consists of the construction of a 43 storey apartment tower and 23 storey five star hotel
. Both towers are connected by a bridge, one floor above the plaza level, and are also connected by basement levels beneath the plaza level. At these levels will be a variety of commercial and hotel accommodation with entrances from street level and the new public square. The towers are topped by two storeys of plant rooms
. The communication equipment and maintenance equipment will generally be below the parapet level so that there is an uncluttered roof line. The designs for the towers were inspired by the products of the jewellery and crafts industry in the nearby Jewellery Quarter
. The bridge across the plaza level will mean that the entrance to the two towers is completely covered from all weather.
, and the tallest residential tower in the city. The tower is slender and the curvature of the façade will respond to the changing effects of daylight. It will be covered in anodised aluminium panels, glass and polished concrete. The anodised aluminium sills will project 200 millimetres (8 in) from the building. The service area will be concealed by fritted glass spandrel panels, which will also accommodate the extract vents. The columns will rise from a polished concrete base on the ground floor. The top two floors will be surrounded by a light-weight perforated metal screen. There will be a total of 332 apartments in the tower, 10% of which shall be designed to be wheelchair accessible. There will be a single central core containing lifts and stairs. The apartments will be sold on 125 year leases.
, four meeting rooms, a WestinWORKOUT Gym including a swimming pool
, a spa, two restaurants, a bar and lobby lounge, one presidential suite
and business centre. The tower was designed to respond to the heights of the office buildings and 1 Snow Hill Plaza
, stepping up in height to the taller tower. The tower will be 82.75 m (271.5 ft) tall, becoming the tallest hotel tower in the city. The hotel, which will have 198 rooms, will be Birmingham's first five star hotel.
In November 2006, Cushman & Wakefield were appointed by Ballymore to select a management company to purchase and operate the hotel at Snowhill. On 4 January 2008, Property Week
reported that Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide
had been appointed to operate the hotel under their Westin Hotels
brand. It will be the second Westin Hotel and the tenth Starwood Hotels & Resorts hotel in the UK. DTZ and Berwin Leighton Paisners acted for Ballymore and CMS Cameron McKenna for Starwood Hotels & Resorts.
In early 2008, it was reported that Ballymore may be in talks with law firm Wragge & Co
and Barclays plc
bank about taking up space within Phase 4. Wragge & Co were looking for 220000 square feet (20,439 m²) of office space in the city and Barclays were looking for 100000 square feet (9,290 m²). On 22 April 2008, Wragge & Co announced that they will be taking 250000 sq ft (23,226 m²) of office space over 11 floors on a 20-year lease with flexibility to accommodate up to 1,800 people at Two Snowhill. It is believed to be the largest pre-let agreement in Birmingham city centre. The company, which is currently based at Colmore Row, One Victoria Square and Bank House, will move into the building in 2011.
attached to Snow Hill station that faces the Snowhill site. Ballymore are to work with the Ikon Gallery
in Brindleyplace
to arrange for artists to submit their ideas. An advisory panel will be set up to decide upon a final design. Two designs were included in the planning application for phase 3 from artists Charles Hadcock
and Art+Com. Hadcock's design also included a paving and seating arrangement inspired by his travels to Egypt
. The design consists of tessellated concrete panels, with the seating areas consisting of these tessellated panels being raised above ground surface. The design by Art+Com, named Drapescape, is inspired by the motion of leaves in the wind. It consists of a collection of plates that are moved from behind. The plates will be individually moved so that they create patterns or the names of historical or famous people from Birmingham appear along with quotes. The art wall will be approximately 200 m (656 ft) long.
Initially, it was proposed to use Insitu concrete flat slabs in the basement with a composite steel frame above podium level all on a 9m x 9m grid. However, as the top five floors had been prelet to KPMG, construction needed to be accelerated and water tightness on the upper levels needed to be achieved quicker. As a result, the plan was changed and the steel frame was started at basement level. However, the basement floors and column finishes were required to be concrete. A hybrid concrete flat slab and concrete encased steel column solution was used to achieve this as it allows the steelwork to continue for the upper floors with temporary bracing in the lower levels. As the concrete floors for the basement construction catch up, the temporary bracing is removed or built in.
Once the steel columns were erected for the basement car park, the steelwork to the suspended ground floor was installed. Barrett then erected the 11 storey frame above this concrete base. Below the slab, Barrett Steel Buildings had already left studs on the columns which allowed Kier to erect the RC basement beams later on. For the steel frame, Barrett split the project into halves and erected three floors on one side before moving over to the other. This allowed the decking to be laid on the first side as well as the concrete floors. The programming meant Barrett was always erecting steelwork at least two levels ahead of the concreting team. The erection of steelwork was completed on Phase 2 by the end of 2007. The glass cladding is currently being installed. Kier Group's contract is due to expire when the building is completed in February 2009.
At the peak of activity, 200 construction workers were employed on the site. During construction, 2,800 tonnes of structural steel were used and 26000 m² (279,862 sq ft) of soil was removed. 13000 square metres (139,931 sq ft) of glazing, supplied from Germany and Italy, is being installed on the façade of the building.
Two traditional topping out
ceremonies took place on the building on 11 April 2008. In the first ceremony, executives from Ballymore and KPMG placed a yew
sapling on the building's 11th floor in a ceremony that is thought to date back to the Viking times
. The yew is said to be able to ward off evil spirits. However, the yew was placed in concrete and was not expected to survive. Later, Mike Whitby
, the head of Birmingham City Council, screwed a golden bolt into place in one of the building's steel columns.
around the site. The 220 m (722 ft) perimeter wall consists of 241 contiguous piles, which were chosen by project design consultant WSP. The piles are 750 millimetres (30 in) in diameter. The piles will hold back the ground that consists of a few metres of fill, then a 3 m (10 ft) to 5 m (16 ft) thick sand layer which becomes weathered sandstone further down. Because the bedrock slopes from 2 m (7 ft) to 14 m (46 ft) down across the site, the piles must be up to 17.5 m (57 ft) deep. As excavation on the site commenced, the company installed 70 ground anchors to the wall. Each of the anchors are 15 m (49 ft) long and 178 millimetres (7 in) diameter. These are for temporary support of the wall whilst the basement is being constructed. When construction is completed, they will remain. Some of the piles were drilled using a cased Large Diameter Auger (LDA) rotary bored piling method, while other parts of the wall were drilled using the Continuous Flight Auger (CFA) method. Alongside the contiguous piled wall, Bachy Soletanche Ltd also constructed ten 1200 millimetres (47 in) diameter LDA plunge column piles and fourteen 750 millimetres (30 in) diameter bearing piles.
Ten plunge columns were installed on the site for the main access ramp. These consisted of large, steel H-section columns surrounded by pea gravel within their pile casings. Bachy Soletanche installed a basic bored pile with casing and then used its special plunge column rig to achieve the 5 millimetre (0.196850393700787 in) accuracy needed for the positioning of the I section steel columns. A steel frame sitting on the casings, had three sets of hydraulic rams for precision adjustment of the central steel while it was fixed with around 5 m (16 ft) of concrete at the pile base. As site excavation progressed, these were slowly being exposed again. PC Harrington is doing the excavation and the concreting of the base whilst Altius will commence the main construction works. The crane base for TC1, the second tower crane, was delivered to the site on 30 January 2008. The crane was assembled on 16 February, however, not to the anticipated 82 m (269 ft).
The slipform structure was assembled on 14 April 2008 and construction of the core for the residential tower commenced on 23 April 2008. As of 9 May, the core has risen above street level, and is continuing to rise. The slipform structure for two cores for the hotel structure were assembled in late July 2008 and was above street level by the start of August 2008.
In August 2008, Ballymore announced that a review of the phasing and timing of the construction schedule is to be undertaken, which could lead to a delay in the construction of the residential tower as a result of the economic conditions. Despite this, a spokesperson for the developers denied that construction on the project will be halted.
In May 2009, it emerged Ballymore were in talks with several banks to get funding resecured for the phase following the nationalisation of one of its main investors, Anglo Irish Bank
.
SR-70 hydraulic rotary rig
owned by Bachy Solentache began work on drilling piles on the site managed by Bachy's Project Manager, Chris Wallbank. After the excavation of earth and assembly of two cranes on site, two slipform structures were assembled in November 2008. In December 2008, these two slipform structures began to rise and the two cores for the building were constructed and topped out. The plaza level was then cleared of construction materials, although the two tower cranes remained in position. Construction stalled in January 2009 following the financial issues with Anglo Irish Bank.
Ballymore began looking to have the loan refinanced aiming to restart construction in the third quarter of 2010 after receiving financing from Barclays, who occupy office space in 1 Snowhill. Finally, in April 2011 Hines
confirmed it will fund the completion of Two Snowhill. Construction commenced in May 2011, with funding provided by the London branch of Deutsche Hypo. Balfour Beatty
have been hired as the main contractor for the project, which is now due for completion in early 2013. Other members of the design and construction team include for facade engineers Yuanda, The Weedon Partnership Architects, structural engineers Caunton and Curtins, building services sub-contractors Rotary, and building services consultants Arup
and Cundall
.
. A pedestrian crossings and a landscaped public square in front of St Chad's Cathedral are to be created as a result of the work. Work on the Snow Hill Queensway commenced on 24 July 2006 and the work on St Chad's Circus commenced on 10 August 2006 with the removal of the subways beneath the site. St. Chad's Circus was turned into two linked traffic signal controlled T-junctions. In addition, re-waterproofing and structural improvements to the St Chad's underpass were carried out above the tunnel. Work on Snow Hill Queensway was completed in January 2007. The St Chad's Circus slip roads were closed temporarily from 14 January 2007 to 28 May 2007. Work on St Chad's Circus was expected to be completed in October 2007, however, good weather conditions resulted in work being completed in July 2007. Landscape work on the new square was completed in December 2007 and was designed by Macfarlane Wilder.
200 EC-H10 and the flat top Liebherr 200 EC-B 10.
For the work at basement level at Phase 3, Bachy Soletanche used two 50 tonnes (49 LT) support cranes and two Bauer
BG 22 piling rigs. Construction of Phase 3 is being assisted by three tower cranes. The first crane to be assembled, TC3, is to be the shortest of the three tower cranes. It has a maximum height of 45 m (148 ft) and has a luffing jib. It was built in one stage. It is a free standing crane and will allow podium level construction. Once construction at podium level is completed, it will be dismantled and replaced by two number gantry joists.
The second tallest crane, TC2, was initially assembled to 68.5 m (225 ft) under the hook. This will allow the hotel tower to be constructed to level 12. It will then be extended in height to 99.8 m (327 ft) under the hook with a tie to the hotel tower at 53.4 m (175 ft) (level 11). This will allow the hotel tower to be constructed to full height. The tallest of the cranes, TC1, was expected to be initially be built to 82 m (269 ft) under the hook and to allow the residential tower to be built to level 14. However, it was constructed to a lower height. It will be extended to 113.4 m (372 ft) with a tie to the residential tower at 57.7 m (189 ft) up. This will allow the residential tower to be built to level 26. After this, it will be extended up to 130 m (427 ft) with an additional tie to the tower at 84.7 m (278 ft) (level 21). This will allow the tower to be built up to level 36. It will be extended again once more to 154 m (505 ft) with a third tie 114.7 m (376 ft) up (level 31), which will allow the tower to go to full height. It is expected that TC1 and TC2 will be dismantled at around the same time. TC3 and TC2 are Wolff
180B luffing jib tower cranes whilst TC1 has a fixed jib.
By the start of November 2008, all the tower cranes on the site of Phase 3 had been disassembled due to it being put on hold. Two tower cranes have since been constructed on the site of Phase 4.
asking for £111 million (€123m). Eight offers were received from mainly overseas investors including Israel
i investor Igal Ahouvi and the Luxembourg
-based fund manager Aerium. In November 2009, Ballymore confirmed the building had been sold to Commerz Real for £128 million (€142m), higher than the asking price.
Ballymore
Ballymore may refer to:*Ballymore , an Irish property company*Ballymore, County Cork, village on Great Island, Cork Harbour, Ireland*Ballymore, County Donegal, Ireland*Ballymore, County Westmeath, Ireland*Ballymore, County Wexford, Ireland...
between Snow Hill Queensway and Birmingham Snow Hill station
Birmingham Snow Hill station
Birmingham Snow Hill is a railway station and tram stop in the centre of Birmingham, England, on the site of an earlier, much larger station built by the former Great Western Railway . It is the second most important railway station in the city, after Birmingham New Street station...
in Birmingham City Centre
Birmingham City Centre
Birmingham city centre is the business, retail and leisure hub of Birmingham, England. Following the removal of the Inner Ring Road, the city centre is newly defined as being the area within the Middle Ring Road. Birmingham city centre is undergoing massive redevelopment with the Big City Plan...
, England. The £500 million phased scheme has been partly completed on the site of a former surface car park adjacent to the railway station. As part of the project, St. Chad's Circus on the Inner Ring Road
A4400 road
The A4400 was a main road in Birmingham, United Kingdom which previously formed a ring around the city centre. Junctions on the road were largely grade separated, with pedestrians kept physically separate from vehicular traffic and most junctions allowing vehicles staying on the road to pass over...
has been levelled and reconfigured to create a new square adjacent to St. Chad's Cathedral and a viaduct has been constructed alongside the station in preparation for the extension of the Midland Metro
Midland Metro
The Midland Metro is a light-rail or tram line in the West Midlands of England between the cities of Birmingham and Wolverhampton via West Bromwich and Wednesbury. It is owned and promoted by Centro, and operated by West Midlands Travel Limited, a subsidiary of the National Express Group , under...
into the city centre.
When completed, Snowhill will consist of a mixture of Grade A office space, retail units, a hotel and residential apartments in four buildings. The two office buildings with retail units on the ground floor have been designed by Sidell Gibson Architects whilst the five star hotel and residential buildings have been designed by Birmingham based-Glenn Howells
Glenn Howells
Glenn Howells is a British born architect. His practice, Glenn Howells Architects, has offices in Birmingham and London. Howells founded his practice in London in 1990 but later moved the main office to Birmingham in 1992....
. An underground car park is being constructed beneath the site. Phase 2, a 57 m (187 ft) tall office building with 12 floors was completed in 2009, whilst its neighbour Phase 4, at 75 metres (246 ft) in height with 15 floors, and Phase 3, a residential 40 storey building with a 23 storey hotel, are on hold due to financing issues with investors as a result of the current economic situation. No date has been set for work to recommence. In a major move which will give Birmingham its first five-star hotel, Ballymore confirmed that US operator Starwood Hotels & Resorts
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide
Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide, Inc. is a hospitality ownership and management organization, headquartered in White Plains, New York. One of the world's largest hotel companies, it owns, operates, franchises and manages hotels, resorts, spas, residences, and vacation ownership properties...
has entered into an agreement to open a new 198 bedroom Westin Hotel & Spa
Westin Hotels
Westin Hotels & Resorts are an upscale hotel chain owned by Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide. As of 2011, Westin operated over 160 hotels in 37 countries.-History:...
.
History
Located near to Colmore RowColmore 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....
, the site was once owned by the Colmore family who owned large areas of land to the north of the present city centre. The family began to establish road layouts and sell plots of land to builders in the 18th century. The site was one of the these plots and it became the location of Oppenheim's Glassworks. This is the earliest documented glassworks in Birmingham. The glassworks were built in 1757 by Mayer Oppenheim, a London merchant who moved to Birmingham in the same year and who patented red (ruby) glass in 1755. The building ceased to be used as a glasshouse after 1780/81. The site was later cleared to make way for the new Birmingham Snow Hill station
Birmingham Snow Hill station
Birmingham Snow Hill is a railway station and tram stop in the centre of Birmingham, England, on the site of an earlier, much larger station built by the former Great Western Railway . It is the second most important railway station in the city, after Birmingham New Street station...
. In 1970, Snow Hill station was redeveloped and the site became a surface car park and remained as such until construction work commenced.
Site
The 1.48 hectareHectare
The hectare is a metric unit of area defined as 10,000 square metres , and primarily used in the measurement of land. In 1795, when the metric system was introduced, the are was defined as being 100 square metres and the hectare was thus 100 ares or 1/100 km2...
(3.65 acres) site which has been outlined for redevelopment runs along the eastern edge of Birmingham Snow Hill station
Birmingham Snow Hill station
Birmingham Snow Hill is a railway station and tram stop in the centre of Birmingham, England, on the site of an earlier, much larger station built by the former Great Western Railway . It is the second most important railway station in the city, after Birmingham New Street station...
, which marks the western boundary of the site. To the north, the site is bounded by Great Charles Street Queensway and St. Chad's Circus on the Inner Ring Road
A4400 road
The A4400 was a main road in Birmingham, United Kingdom which previously formed a ring around the city centre. Junctions on the road were largely grade separated, with pedestrians kept physically separate from vehicular traffic and most junctions allowing vehicles staying on the road to pass over...
, and to the east the site is bounded by Snow Hill Queensway. To the south the site is bounded by Colmore Circus. It is located between the City Core and the Gun
Gun Quarter
The Gun Quarter is the name given to an area of the city of Birmingham, in England, traditionally associated with the manufacture of firearms and sporting guns such as shotguns and Double barreled shotguns. The area is to the north of the city centre, bounded by Steelhouse Lane, Shadwell Street...
and Jewellery Quarter
Jewellery Quarter
The Jewellery Quarter is an area of Birmingham City Centre, England, situated in the south of the Hockley area. It is covered by the Ladywood district. There is a population of around 3,000 people in a area....
s. The level of the site drops significantly from Colmore Circus to St. Chad's Circus and also drops from Snow Hill Queensway to the railway station.
Surroundings
1 Snow Hill Plaza
1 Snow Hill Plaza is a highrise office building in Birmingham, England. It is tall and was completed in 1973.It receives the name Kennedy Tower from the mural dedicated to John F...
, which is directly opposite the site. Other nearby highrise buildings include Colmore Plaza, on the site of the former Birmingham Post and Mail Building
Post and Mail building, Birmingham
The Birmingham Post and Mail building was constructed in the 1960s and was a symbol of the rebuilding of Birmingham, England following the devastation of World War II.- Construction and lifetime :...
, and Colmore Gate
Colmore Gate
Colmore Gate is an office and retail building in Birmingham, England. An example of early 1990s architecture by the Seymour Harris Partnership, the lift shaft is on the outside of the building and the windows are tinted a dark blue colour. The design blends a traditional look with modern materials...
. Shorter buildings include the three office blocks at the entrance to Snow Hill station, Lloyd House - the West Midlands Police
West Midlands Police
West Midlands Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England.Covering an area with nearly 2.6 million inhabitants, which includes the cities of Birmingham, Coventry, Wolverhampton and also the Black Country; the force is made up...
headquarters, The Wesleyan building and 1 Colmore Square. Nearby are the Colmore Row and Environs Conservation Area
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....
and the Steelhouse conservation area
Conservation area
A conservation areas is a tract of land that has been awarded protected status in order to ensure that natural features, cultural heritage or biota are safeguarded...
. St. Chad's Cathedral is a Grade II* listed building designed by Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin.
The area has close transport
Transport in Birmingham
Birmingham is a major transport hub, due in part to its location in central England. Public transport in the city is overseen by the West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive whose public brand is Centro/Network West Midlands.-Railways:-History:...
links. Snow Hill station is one of the three major railway stations in the city centre and provides through rail services to London Marylebone
Marylebone station
Marylebone station , also known as London Marylebone, is a central London railway terminus and London Underground complex. It stands midway between the mainline stations at Euston and Paddington, about 1 mile from each...
while the "Jewellery Line
Birmingham to Worcester via Kidderminster Line
The Birmingham to Worcester via Kidderminster Line is a commuter railway line from Birmingham Snow Hill to Worcester via Stourbridge and Kidderminster. It is part of the Snow Hill Lines, with trains operated by London Midland and Chiltern Railways using by and diesel units...
" provides services from Worcester
Worcester
The City of Worcester, commonly known as Worcester, , is a city and county town of Worcestershire in the West Midlands of England. Worcester is situated some southwest of Birmingham and north of Gloucester, and has an approximate population of 94,000 people. The River Severn runs through the...
/Stourbridge
Stourbridge
Stourbridge is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, in the West Midlands of England. Historically part of Worcestershire, Stourbridge was a centre of glass making, and today includes the suburbs of Amblecote, Lye, Norton, Oldswinford, Pedmore, Wollaston, Wollescote and Wordsley The...
to Leamington Spa
Leamington Spa
Royal Leamington Spa, commonly known as Leamington Spa or Leamington or Leam to locals, is a spa town in central Warwickshire, England. Formerly known as Leamington Priors, its expansion began following the popularisation of the medicinal qualities of its water by Dr Kerr in 1784, and by Dr Lambe...
/Stratford
Stratford-upon-Avon
Stratford-upon-Avon is a market town and civil parish in south Warwickshire, England. It lies on the River Avon, south east of Birmingham and south west of Warwick. It is the largest and most populous town of the District of Stratford-on-Avon, which uses the term "on" to indicate that it covers...
via Birmingham Moor Street railway station
Birmingham Moor Street railway station
Birmingham Moor Street railway station is one of three main railway stations in the city centre of Birmingham, England. The Grade II listed old station building has been partially renovated to its 1930s condition at a cost of £11 million....
. Snow Hill station is also the terminus of Line 1 of the Midland Metro
Midland Metro
The Midland Metro is a light-rail or tram line in the West Midlands of England between the cities of Birmingham and Wolverhampton via West Bromwich and Wednesbury. It is owned and promoted by Centro, and operated by West Midlands Travel Limited, a subsidiary of the National Express Group , under...
which connects to Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands, England. For Eurostat purposes Walsall and Wolverhampton is a NUTS 3 region and is one of five boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "West Midlands" NUTS 2 region...
. The planned extensions of this line will take the Midland Metro on through the city centre to Five Ways
Five Ways, Birmingham
Five Ways is an area of Birmingham, England. It takes its name from a major road junction, now a busy roundabout to the south-west of the city centre which lies at the outward end of Broad Street, where the Birmingham Middle ring road crosses the start of the A456 .-History:The name of Five Ways...
and on to Dudley
Dudley
Dudley is a large town in the West Midlands county of England. At the 2001 census , the Dudley Urban Sub Area had a population of 194,919, making it the 26th largest settlement in England, the second largest town in the United Kingdom behind Reading, and the largest settlement in the UK without...
. National Express West Midlands
National Express West Midlands
National Express West Midlands , formerly known as Travel West Midlands , is the trade name of West Midlands Travel Ltd , a company which operates bus services from depots in the cities of Birmingham, and Wolverhampton, as well as the boroughs of Dudley, Sandwell, Solihull and Walsall in the West...
bus services operate along Snow Hill Queensway and Colmore Circus. A coach station was planned for an undeveloped site opposite the rear of Snow Hill station, however, the plans were shelved and the existing Digbeth Coach Station
Digbeth Coach Station
Birmingham Coach Station is a major coach interchange in Digbeth, Birmingham, England offering services to destinations throughout Great Britain and also to Belfast, Dublin and Poland. National Express, the largest scheduled coach service provider in Europe, has its national headquarters on the site...
is to be redeveloped instead.
Development brief
On 13 May 2002, Birmingham City CouncilBirmingham 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...
adopted the Snow Hill Development Brief for proposals on the site as Supplementary Planning Guidance to the Birmingham Unitary Development Plan. The brief set out planning and urban design guidance for developers interested in developing the site. It also provided a framework for the future development of the wider area around St. Chad's Circus. In May 2002, the brief was adopted as Supplementary Planning Guidance to the Birmingham Plan for use in determining planning applications for the site. The development brief outlined a strategy which incorporated the extension of the Midland Metro
Midland Metro
The Midland Metro is a light-rail or tram line in the West Midlands of England between the cities of Birmingham and Wolverhampton via West Bromwich and Wednesbury. It is owned and promoted by Centro, and operated by West Midlands Travel Limited, a subsidiary of the National Express Group , under...
light rail
Light rail
Light rail or light rail transit is a form of urban rail public transportation that generally has a lower capacity and lower speed than heavy rail and metro systems, but higher capacity and higher speed than traditional street-running tram systems...
line and the conversion of Snow Hill Queensway to an 'urban boulevard
Boulevard
A Boulevard is type of road, usually a wide, multi-lane arterial thoroughfare, divided with a median down the centre, and roadways along each side designed as slow travel and parking lanes and for bicycle and pedestrian usage, often with an above-average quality of landscaping and scenery...
'. In converting Snow Hill Queensway into an urban boulevard, St. Chad's Circus would be levelled to enhance the surroundings of St. Chad's Cathedral. The development brief also stated that the development must consist of a series of buildings as opposed to one monolithic building. The tallest of these buildings should be 12 storeys and step down, avoiding the use of false ground levels. An artist's impression of a potential design was produced for the development brief.
Ownership
At the time of the production of the Snow Hill Development Brief, the site was owned freehold by Birmingham City CouncilBirmingham 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...
and Railtrack
Railtrack
Railtrack was a group of companies that owned the track, signalling, tunnels, bridges, level crossings and all but a handful of the stations of the British railway system from its formation in April 1994 until 2002...
. The brief proposed that the successful developer will be offered a long leasehold interest encompassing both freehold interests with vacant possession on completion. Ballymore and Hammerson
Hammerson
Hammerson plc is a major British property development and investment company. The firm switched to Real Estate Investment Trust status when REITs were introduced in the United Kingdom in January 2007. It is traded on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index...
purchased the site for £63 million in 2002. Anglo Irish Bank
Anglo Irish Bank
Anglo Irish Bank was a bank based in Ireland with its headquarters in Dublin from 1964 to 2011. It went into wind-down mode after nationalisation in 2009....
loaned approximately £220 million for the development.
Planning applications
The first of the planning applicationPlanning permission
Planning permission or planning consent is the permission required in the United Kingdom in order to be allowed to build on land, or change the use of land or buildings. Within the UK the occupier of any land or building will need title to that land or building , but will also need "planning...
s was submitted by agents Drivers Jonas
Drivers Jonas
Drivers Jonas was a longstanding private partnership of chartered surveyors in the United Kingdom. It was among the oldest firms of its kind in the world, having been founded in 1725. It was known for its public sector work, with contracts in defence, county councils, government offices and...
on behalf of Railtrack
Railtrack
Railtrack was a group of companies that owned the track, signalling, tunnels, bridges, level crossings and all but a handful of the stations of the British railway system from its formation in April 1994 until 2002...
. The outline planning application was submitted on 21 December 2001, although it was not registered by the Planning Department at Birmingham City Council until 30 January 2002. The planning application brief on the Birmingham City Council website said:
Office and residential development, ancillary A1, A3, A4, A5 and D2 uses, car parking & associated highway improvements
The planning committee resolved to grant planning permission, subject to Section 106 and Section 278 agreements, in April 2005. Section 106 agreements were signed on 15 December 2007 between Birmingham City Council, RT Group and Anglo Irish Bank
Anglo Irish Bank
Anglo Irish Bank was a bank based in Ireland with its headquarters in Dublin from 1964 to 2011. It went into wind-down mode after nationalisation in 2009....
. The planning application was approved on 19 December 2005, nearly four years after it was submitted. Along with approval, Railtrack were given 47 planning conditions.
The applicant then made it clear that they intended to submit reserved matters
Reserved matters
In the United Kingdom reserved matters and excepted matters are the areas of government policy where Parliament had kept the power to make laws in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales....
planning applications for the four individual phases for the development. The first of these reserved matters planning applications was for the construction of an internal service road, covered car park, piazza deck and a tram viaduct
Viaduct
A viaduct is a bridge composed of several small spans. The term viaduct is derived from the Latin via for road and ducere to lead something. However, the Ancient Romans did not use that term per se; it is a modern derivation from an analogy with aqueduct. Like the Roman aqueducts, many early...
. The planning application was submitted by GVA Grimley on behalf of RT Group Developments, a wholly owned subsidiary of Domaine Developments Limited, which is in turn a wholly owned subsidiary of Ballymore. It was submitted on 25 January 2006 and registered on the same day. The Birmingham City Council summarised the planning application as:
Reserved matters application for siting, design and external appearance, regarding provision of internal service road, covered car park, piazza deck & erection of tram viaduct
The planning application was approved on 9 March 2006.
The second reserved matters planning application was submitted by GVA Grimley on behalf of RT Group Developments. It was submitted on 9 May 2006 and registered by the Planning Department at Birmingham City Council on 27 June 2006. The planning application brief on the local authority's website said:
Reserved matters application for siting, design, external appearance and landscaping, in connection with the erection of a 12 storey office building with B1(a) A1/A3/A4 uses at ground floor together with associated landscaping
The planning application was approved by the planning department on 29 June 2006. The developers then sought to revise the masterplan to the site following property market changes, planning policy changes and changes in thoughts over the design of the scheme. The revised masterplan was approved by the council in July 2006.
The third planning application to be submitted was a detailed planning application indicating that the details of the proposal were different to what was approved in the outline planning application. It was submitted on 23 January 2007 by GVA Grimley on behalf of the RT Group, and was registered on the same day. The council's website summarised the planning application details as:
Detailed planning application for mixed-use development comprising 170 bedroom hotel (C1) standing 23 storeys in height (208 m AOD) and 332 residential apartments (C3) standing 43 storeys in height (260 m AOD) together with ancillary retail, leisure and conference facilities, landscaping and associated car parking
The Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment
Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment
The Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment was an executive non-departmental public body of the UK government, established in 1999. It was funded by both the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and the Department for Communities and Local Government.-Function:CABE was the...
(CABE) were invited to comment on the towers. The planning application was deferred by the planning department on 24 July 2007 over Section 106 issues, which had been identified by planning officers prior to the agreement. These issues were later resolved and the planning application was approved.
Submitted on the same day as the third planning application, the third reserved matters planning application was submitted for an office building on Phase 4. The council's website summarised the planning application as:
Reserved matters application for siting, design, external appearance and landscaping for second office building, car parking and associated landscaping, pursuant to outline planning permission C/00393/07/FUL
A detailed planning application requesting permission from the council to modify condition C10 of the outline planning permission to extend the height of the office building to 15 storeys was also submitted on the same day. Both planning applications were approved on 20 August 2007.
Following this, another planning application was submitted for a glazed 'winter garden' between office buildings one and two. It was submitted on 6 November 2007 by GVA Grimley on behalf of RT Group, and was registered on the same day. The consultation process ended on 3 December 2007 and the planning application was approved on 11 December 2007.
The latest planning application to be submitted was to revise the planning application for the hotel and residential towers. The planning application sought permission for the hotel tower to be extended by 72 cm (28 in) in height and the footprint to be extended by 65 cm (26 in) to accommodate an extra 28 hotel rooms. The floor-to-ceiling heights will be reduced by 25 cm (10 in). The total floorspace in the development was increased by 1747 m² (18,804.6 sq ft) to 53086 m² (571,412.9 sq ft). The planning application was submitted on 25 February 2008 and registered on the same day. It was summarised on the council's website as:
Revisions to planning permission C/00391/07/FUL to permit a 43 storey residential tower (260m AOD) and a 25 storey hotel tower (209m AOD) together with ancillary retail, leisure and conferencing facilities, landscaping and associated car parking
On 10 April 2008, it was deferred for an agreement over Section 106 payments.
Phase 1
Phase 1 consists of the construction of a tramTram
A tram is a passenger rail vehicle which runs on tracks along public urban streets and also sometimes on separate rights of way. It may also run between cities and/or towns , and/or partially grade separated even in the cities...
viaduct
Viaduct
A viaduct is a bridge composed of several small spans. The term viaduct is derived from the Latin via for road and ducere to lead something. However, the Ancient Romans did not use that term per se; it is a modern derivation from an analogy with aqueduct. Like the Roman aqueducts, many early...
alongside Livery Street car park
Parking lot
A parking lot , also known as car lot, is a cleared area that is intended for parking vehicles. Usually, the term refers to a dedicated area that has been provided with a durable or semi-durable surface....
to take the Midland Metro
Midland Metro
The Midland Metro is a light-rail or tram line in the West Midlands of England between the cities of Birmingham and Wolverhampton via West Bromwich and Wednesbury. It is owned and promoted by Centro, and operated by West Midlands Travel Limited, a subsidiary of the National Express Group , under...
into the city centre. The viaduct will commence at Great Charles Street Queensway, adjacent to the bridge carrying railway services into Snow Hill station, and run along the length of the Snowhill site. It will end at a piazza
Piazza
A piazza is a city square in Italy, Malta, along the Dalmatian coast and in surrounding regions. The term is roughly equivalent to the Spanish plaza...
deck, from which the Midland Metro will leave the Snowhill site and go onto Colmore Circus, if the extension of Line 1 is approved. The bridge that will carry the Midland Metro over Great Charles Street Queensway will be designed by a separate practice and be part of a separate planning application. The viaduct will be covered in 50 mm (2 in) pebble ballast
Track ballast
Track ballast forms the trackbed upon which railway sleepers or railroad ties are laid. It is packed between, below, and around the ties. It is used to facilitate drainage of water, to distribute the load from the railroad ties, and also to keep down vegetation that might interfere with the track...
. There will be 16 sets of reinforced concrete
Reinforced concrete
Reinforced concrete is concrete in which reinforcement bars , reinforcement grids, plates or fibers have been incorporated to strengthen the concrete in tension. It was invented by French gardener Joseph Monier in 1849 and patented in 1867. The term Ferro Concrete refers only to concrete that is...
columns supporting the viaduct which consists of reinforced concrete beams and a reinforced concrete parapet
Parapet
A parapet is a wall-like barrier at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony or other structure. Where extending above a roof, it may simply be the portion of an exterior wall that continues above the line of the roof surface, or may be a continuation of a vertical feature beneath the roof such as a...
. Beneath these will be a service road
Frontage road
A frontage road is a non-limited access road running parallel to a higher-speed road, usually a freeway, and feeding it at appropriate points of access...
for deliveries to the retail units and the hotel. For the construction of the viaduct, Tarmac Precast were awarded a £300,000 contract by Kier Build to manufacture 250 specially designed TY and TYE complimentary edge beams. The beams were manufactured over a six week period Tarmac Precast's Henlade site. The service road will be tarmac
Tarmac
Tarmac is a type of road surface. Tarmac refers to a material patented by Edgar Purnell Hooley in 1901...
, lined with precast concrete
Precast concrete
By producing precast concrete in a controlled environment , the precast concrete is afforded the opportunity to properly cure and be closely monitored by plant employees. Utilizing a Precast Concrete system offers many potential advantages over site casting of concrete...
kerbs, separating the road from the concrete pavement for pedestrians. The concrete deck that will carry the Midland Metro will be 650 mm (26 in) thick. In total, the viaduct will be 220 m (722 ft) long and is being built by the Kier Group
Kier Group
Kier Group plc is a construction, services and property group active in building and civil engineering, support services, public and private housebuilding, land development and the Private Finance Initiative...
. The viaduct was designed by Alan Baxter and Associates LLP consulting engineers with Sidell Gibson Architects, and is estimated to cost £9 million.
Phase 2
Phase 2, also known as One Snowhill, consists of the construction of a 12 storey, 56 metres (184 ft) office and retail building. There are three basement levels with car parking facilities and 11 floors of offices. The office building was designed by Sidell Gibson Architects, who were the concept architects, and also by Fairhursts. It is being built by the Kier GroupKier Group
Kier Group plc is a construction, services and property group active in building and civil engineering, support services, public and private housebuilding, land development and the Private Finance Initiative...
, who won the £66 million contract in January 2007. The building will have an overhanging, slanting wall, facing Livery Street car park. There will be a 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....
at the entrance, the columns of which will be faced with reconstituted slate
Slate
Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. The result is a foliated rock in which the foliation may not correspond to the original sedimentary layering...
-coloured stone whilst the roof of the colonnade will be a dark grey colour-coated metal panel soffit
Soffit
Soffit , in architecture, describes the underside of any construction element...
. Above the edge of the colonnade will be reconstituted slate-coloured stone panels and dark grey-coloured spandrel panels. On the ground floor, there will be retail units with a varying floor-to-ceiling height. Above this, although below the roof of the colonnade, is the first office floor with a floor-to-ceiling height of 2750 mm (108 in). All the office floors above this have the same floor to ceiling height. The entrance will be surrounded by clear glass with colour-coated metal frames.
The windows are a mixture of clear glass and translucent insulated glass panels that are being fitted into dark grey colour-coated metal frames at random locations on the buildings façade. Covering the windows on the slanted wall are horizontal metal and glass solar fins whilst on the Snow Hill Queensway elevation, the solar fins are being fitted vertically. Between alternate floors there are colour-coated metal spandrel panels.
At the top of the building will be the plant level, which will be hidden from view by a colour-coated metal screen. Around the edge of the building will be a metal or glass balustrade to hide the view of the window cleaning
Window cleaner
A window cleaner is a person who maintains the cleanliness of windows, mirrors and other glass surfaces as a profession.-Profession:...
device. Alongside the plant level will be a gantry
Gantry
Gantry may refer to:*Gantry crane, a crane having a hoist fitted in a trolley for parallel movement*Gantry , the frame which encloses and services a rocket at its launch pad*Gantry , an overhead assembly on which highway signs are posted...
. There will be a total of eleven lifts in the building, spread amongst two core
Core
- Science and Academics :* Core , in mathematics, an object in group theory* Core , in mathematics, a subset of the domain of a closable operator* Core , in mathematics, the homomorphically minimal subgraph of a graph...
s, with an additional core containing stairs leading to a ground floor fire exit. There will be two platform lifts on the ground floor for disabled people.
It was announced in June 2006 that Ballymore had signed KPMG
KPMG
KPMG is one of the largest professional services networks in the world and one of the Big Four auditors, along with Deloitte, Ernst & Young and PwC. Its global headquarters is located in Amstelveen, Netherlands....
as the main tenant for One Snowhill. The accountancy firm is to rent 11000 square metres (118,403 sq ft) of office space in the building on a 20 year term on floors 7 to 11. It was the largest pre-let in Birmingham since 2002 and the largest outside of London since 2003. KPMG anticipates to commence the phased move of its 1,000 Birmingham workers to the building in 2009. In July 2008, Barclays Commercial Bank
Barclays plc
Barclays PLC is a global banking and financial services company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. As of 2010 it was the world's 10th-largest banking and financial services group and 21st-largest company according to a composite measure by Forbes magazine...
agreed to move its Midlands headquarters to 1 Snowhill. They have taken up 98000 square feet (9,104 m²) of space on floors three to six on a 15 year lease with its own dedicated reception and meeting suite. 1,000 sales and operations staff have moved into the office building from other offices across Birmingham. Jones Lang LaSalle
Jones Lang LaSalle
Jones Lang LaSalle, Inc. is a multinational financial and professional services company specializing in real estate. Global headquarters are located in Chicago, with an operational remit covering the Americas regional market...
advised Barclays in the agreement whilst Ballymore was represented by CBRE and Colliers CRE. The pre-let to Barclays is believed to be the reason why they were comfortable to refinance the loan for the construction of the building.
Phase 3
| Position | Company |
|---|---|
| Developer | RT Group Developments |
| Architect Architect An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the... |
Glenn Howells Glenn Howells Glenn Howells is a British born architect. His practice, Glenn Howells Architects, has offices in Birmingham and London. Howells founded his practice in London in 1990 but later moved the main office to Birmingham in 1992.... |
| Planning consultant | GVA Grimley |
| Structural engineer Structural engineer Structural engineers analyze, design, plan, and research structural components and structural systems to achieve design goals and ensure the safety and comfort of users or occupants... |
WSP WSP WSP may mean:* WSP Group A global business providing management and consultancy services to the built and natural environment.* Women Strike for Peace A United States women's peace activist group.... |
| M&E consultant | Hoare Lea Hoare Lea Hoare Lea is a firm of consulting engineers specialising in mechanical, electrical and environmental engineering... |
| Fire consultant | Hoare Lea Fire Hoare Lea Hoare Lea is a firm of consulting engineers specialising in mechanical, electrical and environmental engineering... |
| Acoustic consultants | Hoare Lea Acoustics Hoare Lea Hoare Lea is a firm of consulting engineers specialising in mechanical, electrical and environmental engineering... |
| Façade engineer | Arup Façade Engineering Arup Arup is a global professional services firm headquartered in London, United Kingdom which provides engineering, design, planning, project management and consulting services for all aspects of the built environment. The firm is present in Africa, the Americas, Australasia, East Asia, Europe and the... |
| Access consultants | Arup Arup Arup is a global professional services firm headquartered in London, United Kingdom which provides engineering, design, planning, project management and consulting services for all aspects of the built environment. The firm is present in Africa, the Americas, Australasia, East Asia, Europe and the... |
| Project manager Project manager A project manager is a professional in the field of project management. Project managers can have the responsibility of the planning, execution, and closing of any project, typically relating to construction industry, architecture, computer networking, telecommunications or software... s |
Cheshire Shakeshaft Ltd. |
| Planning supervisor | Gleeds |
| Quantity surveyor Quantity surveyor A quantity surveyor is a professional working within the construction industry concerned with building costs.The profession is one that provides a qualification gained following formal education, specific training and experience that provides a general set of skills that are then applied to a... |
Gleeds |
| Rights to Light and Party Wall surveyor |
BLDA |
| Environmental consultant | Scott Wilson Scott Wilson Group Scott Wilson Group plc, with over 5,500 members of staff, is a global integrated design and engineering consultancy for the built and natural environments... |
| Masterplanner | Sidell Gibson Architects |
| Highways engineer | Alan Baxter Associates |
| Landscape architect Landscape architect A landscape architect is a person involved in the planning, design and sometimes direction of a landscape, garden, or distinct space. The professional practice is known as landscape architecture.... |
Macfarlane Wilder |
Phase 3, also known as Three Snowhill, consists of the construction of a 43 storey apartment tower and 23 storey five star hotel
Star (classification)
Stars are often used as symbols for classification purposes. They are used by reviewers for ranking things such as movies, TV shows, restaurants, and hotels. For example, one to five stars is commonly employed to categorize hotels.-Restaurant ratings:...
. Both towers are connected by a bridge, one floor above the plaza level, and are also connected by basement levels beneath the plaza level. At these levels will be a variety of commercial and hotel accommodation with entrances from street level and the new public square. The towers are topped by two storeys of plant rooms
Physical plant
Physical plant or mechanical plant refers to the necessary infrastructure used in support and maintenance of a given facility. The operation of these facilities, or the department of an organization which does so, is called "plant operations" or facility management...
. The communication equipment and maintenance equipment will generally be below the parapet level so that there is an uncluttered roof line. The designs for the towers were inspired by the products of the jewellery and crafts industry in the nearby Jewellery Quarter
Jewellery Quarter
The Jewellery Quarter is an area of Birmingham City Centre, England, situated in the south of the Hockley area. It is covered by the Ladywood district. There is a population of around 3,000 people in a area....
. The bridge across the plaza level will mean that the entrance to the two towers is completely covered from all weather.
Residential element
The residential tower is 42½ storeys tall and will consist of one and two bedroom apartments with penthouse suites on the upper floors. It will be 137 m (449 ft) tall, becoming the second tallest building in the city, behind the BT TowerBritish Telecom Tower (Birmingham)
The BT Tower is a landmark in Birmingham, England, and is also the tallest building in the city. Its Post Office code was YBMR.-History:...
, and the tallest residential tower in the city. The tower is slender and the curvature of the façade will respond to the changing effects of daylight. It will be covered in anodised aluminium panels, glass and polished concrete. The anodised aluminium sills will project 200 millimetres (8 in) from the building. The service area will be concealed by fritted glass spandrel panels, which will also accommodate the extract vents. The columns will rise from a polished concrete base on the ground floor. The top two floors will be surrounded by a light-weight perforated metal screen. There will be a total of 332 apartments in the tower, 10% of which shall be designed to be wheelchair accessible. There will be a single central core containing lifts and stairs. The apartments will be sold on 125 year leases.
Hotel element
The hotel tower will be accessed by two entrances, which will lead to a feature staircase leading up to reception. Level 1 will contain the main kitchens and restaurant, which will be located on the bridge. Ancillary accommodation, offices, plant rooms and storage areas will be located at lower basement levels. There will be a central lift core with offset stair and service cores. There will be a central corridor in the tower with hotel rooms either side and will be wide enough to allow wheelchairs to pass each other. The hotel will consist of a leisure club on basement level 2 which will also be available to the residents in the apartment tower. A 400-seat, 1050 square metres (11,302 sq ft) conference facility will be provided at reception level and will be accessed directly from reception. As well as this, the hotel will also feature a 370 square metres (3,983 sq ft) ballroomBallroom
A ballroom is a large room inside a building, the designated purpose of which is holding formal dances called balls. Traditionally, most balls were held in private residences; many mansions contain one or more ballrooms...
, four meeting rooms, a WestinWORKOUT Gym including a swimming pool
Swimming pool
A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, or simply a pool, is a container filled with water intended for swimming or water-based recreation. There are many standard sizes; the largest is the Olympic-size swimming pool...
, a spa, two restaurants, a bar and lobby lounge, one presidential suite
Presidential suite
Presidential suite and royal suite are common names for the most expensive suite in a luxury hotel.It gained its name during the Woodrow Wilson presidency because on each of his political trips away from Washington, he would insist on having a hotel room conform to specific requirements for his...
and business centre. The tower was designed to respond to the heights of the office buildings and 1 Snow Hill Plaza
1 Snow Hill Plaza
1 Snow Hill Plaza is a highrise office building in Birmingham, England. It is tall and was completed in 1973.It receives the name Kennedy Tower from the mural dedicated to John F...
, stepping up in height to the taller tower. The tower will be 82.75 m (271.5 ft) tall, becoming the tallest hotel tower in the city. The hotel, which will have 198 rooms, will be Birmingham's first five star hotel.
In November 2006, Cushman & Wakefield were appointed by Ballymore to select a management company to purchase and operate the hotel at Snowhill. On 4 January 2008, Property Week
Property Week
Property Week is a UK business-to-business magazine which reports on the worldwide commercial and residential property market.It is the Business Magazine of the Year 2007....
reported that Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide
Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide, Inc. is a hospitality ownership and management organization, headquartered in White Plains, New York. One of the world's largest hotel companies, it owns, operates, franchises and manages hotels, resorts, spas, residences, and vacation ownership properties...
had been appointed to operate the hotel under their Westin Hotels
Westin Hotels
Westin Hotels & Resorts are an upscale hotel chain owned by Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide. As of 2011, Westin operated over 160 hotels in 37 countries.-History:...
brand. It will be the second Westin Hotel and the tenth Starwood Hotels & Resorts hotel in the UK. DTZ and Berwin Leighton Paisners acted for Ballymore and CMS Cameron McKenna for Starwood Hotels & Resorts.
Phase 4
Phase 4, also known as Two Snowhill, consists of the construction of a 15 storey, 75 metres (246 ft) office and retail building. Phase 4 is almost identical to Phase 2 but with the addition of three extra floors. In three basement levels and part of the lower ground floor level, there will be 146 car parking spaces and 100 cycle spaces. Main entrances and a double height reception foyer are located at the lower ground and ground floors, also with four retail and restaurant spaces. The office floor provision starts at 1st floor level and rises to the 14th floor. The 15th and 16th floors are used for building services plantrooms. There will be a main core, which will contain six passenger lifts, and a second core with four feature glass lifts rising to level six. A central atrium will rise the full height of the building, rising off of the reception foyer, and will be topped with a fritted glass roof. Breakout spaces accessed off of the office floors will make use of the atrium at various points as it rises up the building.In early 2008, it was reported that Ballymore may be in talks with law firm Wragge & Co
Wragge & Co
Started in 1834 as a two-partner firm in Birmingham, Wragge & Co LLP is now a UK-headquartered international law firm providing a full range of legal services to UK and international clients...
and Barclays plc
Barclays plc
Barclays PLC is a global banking and financial services company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. As of 2010 it was the world's 10th-largest banking and financial services group and 21st-largest company according to a composite measure by Forbes magazine...
bank about taking up space within Phase 4. Wragge & Co were looking for 220000 square feet (20,439 m²) of office space in the city and Barclays were looking for 100000 square feet (9,290 m²). On 22 April 2008, Wragge & Co announced that they will be taking 250000 sq ft (23,226 m²) of office space over 11 floors on a 20-year lease with flexibility to accommodate up to 1,800 people at Two Snowhill. It is believed to be the largest pre-let agreement in Birmingham city centre. The company, which is currently based at Colmore Row, One Victoria Square and Bank House, will move into the building in 2011.
Art wall
The art wall is a £1.5 million proposal to decorate the side of Livery Street multi-storey car parkMulti-storey car park
A multi-storey car-park is a building designed specifically to be for car parking and where there are a number of floors or levels on which parking takes place...
attached to Snow Hill station that faces the Snowhill site. Ballymore are to work with the Ikon Gallery
Ikon Gallery
The Ikon Gallery is an English gallery of contemporary art, located in Brindleyplace, Birmingham. It is housed in the Grade II listed, neo-gothic former Oozells Street Board School, designed by John Henry Chamberlain in 1877. The gallery's current director is Jonathan Watkins.Ikon was set up to...
in Brindleyplace
Brindleyplace
Brindleyplace is a large mixed-use canalside development, in the Westside district of Birmingham, England. It is often written erroneously as Brindley Place, the name of the street around which it is built...
to arrange for artists to submit their ideas. An advisory panel will be set up to decide upon a final design. Two designs were included in the planning application for phase 3 from artists Charles Hadcock
Charles Hadcock
Charles Hadcock , is the owner and director, The Watermark, Preston, Lancashire. In 2007, he was awarded the Queen's Award for Enterprise Promotion.-References:...
and Art+Com. Hadcock's design also included a paving and seating arrangement inspired by his travels to Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
. The design consists of tessellated concrete panels, with the seating areas consisting of these tessellated panels being raised above ground surface. The design by Art+Com, named Drapescape, is inspired by the motion of leaves in the wind. It consists of a collection of plates that are moved from behind. The plates will be individually moved so that they create patterns or the names of historical or famous people from Birmingham appear along with quotes. The art wall will be approximately 200 m (656 ft) long.
Construction
Phase 1 and 2
Construction commenced on the site of Phases 1 and 2 in April 2006.Initially, it was proposed to use Insitu concrete flat slabs in the basement with a composite steel frame above podium level all on a 9m x 9m grid. However, as the top five floors had been prelet to KPMG, construction needed to be accelerated and water tightness on the upper levels needed to be achieved quicker. As a result, the plan was changed and the steel frame was started at basement level. However, the basement floors and column finishes were required to be concrete. A hybrid concrete flat slab and concrete encased steel column solution was used to achieve this as it allows the steelwork to continue for the upper floors with temporary bracing in the lower levels. As the concrete floors for the basement construction catch up, the temporary bracing is removed or built in.
Once the steel columns were erected for the basement car park, the steelwork to the suspended ground floor was installed. Barrett then erected the 11 storey frame above this concrete base. Below the slab, Barrett Steel Buildings had already left studs on the columns which allowed Kier to erect the RC basement beams later on. For the steel frame, Barrett split the project into halves and erected three floors on one side before moving over to the other. This allowed the decking to be laid on the first side as well as the concrete floors. The programming meant Barrett was always erecting steelwork at least two levels ahead of the concreting team. The erection of steelwork was completed on Phase 2 by the end of 2007. The glass cladding is currently being installed. Kier Group's contract is due to expire when the building is completed in February 2009.
At the peak of activity, 200 construction workers were employed on the site. During construction, 2,800 tonnes of structural steel were used and 26000 m² (279,862 sq ft) of soil was removed. 13000 square metres (139,931 sq ft) of glazing, supplied from Germany and Italy, is being installed on the façade of the building.
Two traditional topping out
Topping out
In building construction, topping out is a ceremony held when the last beam is placed at the top of a building. The term may also refer to the overall completion of the building's structure, or an intermediate point, such as when the roof is dried in...
ceremonies took place on the building on 11 April 2008. In the first ceremony, executives from Ballymore and KPMG placed a yew
Taxus
Taxus is a genus of yews, small coniferous trees or shrubs in the yew family Taxaceae. They are relatively slow-growing and can be very long-lived, and reach heights of 1-40 m, with trunk diameters of up to 4 m...
sapling on the building's 11th floor in a ceremony that is thought to date back to the Viking times
Viking Age
Viking Age is the term for the period in European history, especially Northern European and Scandinavian history, spanning the late 8th to 11th centuries. Scandinavian Vikings explored Europe by its oceans and rivers through trade and warfare. The Vikings also reached Iceland, Greenland,...
. The yew is said to be able to ward off evil spirits. However, the yew was placed in concrete and was not expected to survive. Later, Mike Whitby
Mike Whitby
Mike Whitby is an English Conservative Party politician and current leader of Birmingham City Council, a post he has held since June 2004. He is one of three Conservative councillors representing the Harborne ward in the west of the city...
, the head of Birmingham City Council, screwed a golden bolt into place in one of the building's steel columns.
Phase 3
When the planning application for Phase 3 was submitted, it was expected that construction would commence in July or August 2007. Construction of Phase 3 commenced in July 2007. Bachy Soletanche Ltd, who received the £1.5 million contract, commenced work on the site by installing a deep contiguous piled wallDeep foundation
A deep foundation is a type of foundation distinguished from shallow foundations by the depth they are embedded into the ground. There are many reasons a geotechnical engineer would recommend a deep foundation over a shallow foundation, but some of the common reasons are very large design loads, a...
around the site. The 220 m (722 ft) perimeter wall consists of 241 contiguous piles, which were chosen by project design consultant WSP. The piles are 750 millimetres (30 in) in diameter. The piles will hold back the ground that consists of a few metres of fill, then a 3 m (10 ft) to 5 m (16 ft) thick sand layer which becomes weathered sandstone further down. Because the bedrock slopes from 2 m (7 ft) to 14 m (46 ft) down across the site, the piles must be up to 17.5 m (57 ft) deep. As excavation on the site commenced, the company installed 70 ground anchors to the wall. Each of the anchors are 15 m (49 ft) long and 178 millimetres (7 in) diameter. These are for temporary support of the wall whilst the basement is being constructed. When construction is completed, they will remain. Some of the piles were drilled using a cased Large Diameter Auger (LDA) rotary bored piling method, while other parts of the wall were drilled using the Continuous Flight Auger (CFA) method. Alongside the contiguous piled wall, Bachy Soletanche Ltd also constructed ten 1200 millimetres (47 in) diameter LDA plunge column piles and fourteen 750 millimetres (30 in) diameter bearing piles.
Ten plunge columns were installed on the site for the main access ramp. These consisted of large, steel H-section columns surrounded by pea gravel within their pile casings. Bachy Soletanche installed a basic bored pile with casing and then used its special plunge column rig to achieve the 5 millimetre (0.196850393700787 in) accuracy needed for the positioning of the I section steel columns. A steel frame sitting on the casings, had three sets of hydraulic rams for precision adjustment of the central steel while it was fixed with around 5 m (16 ft) of concrete at the pile base. As site excavation progressed, these were slowly being exposed again. PC Harrington is doing the excavation and the concreting of the base whilst Altius will commence the main construction works. The crane base for TC1, the second tower crane, was delivered to the site on 30 January 2008. The crane was assembled on 16 February, however, not to the anticipated 82 m (269 ft).
The slipform structure was assembled on 14 April 2008 and construction of the core for the residential tower commenced on 23 April 2008. As of 9 May, the core has risen above street level, and is continuing to rise. The slipform structure for two cores for the hotel structure were assembled in late July 2008 and was above street level by the start of August 2008.
In August 2008, Ballymore announced that a review of the phasing and timing of the construction schedule is to be undertaken, which could lead to a delay in the construction of the residential tower as a result of the economic conditions. Despite this, a spokesperson for the developers denied that construction on the project will be halted.
In May 2009, it emerged Ballymore were in talks with several banks to get funding resecured for the phase following the nationalisation of one of its main investors, Anglo Irish Bank
Anglo Irish Bank
Anglo Irish Bank was a bank based in Ireland with its headquarters in Dublin from 1964 to 2011. It went into wind-down mode after nationalisation in 2009....
.
Phase 4
In May 2008, the site was cleared of mobile cabins associated with the construction of Phase 2, and there was a small crane on site, along with diggers. On 29 May 2008, a SoilmecSoilmec
Soilmec S.p.A. is an Italian manufacturer of construction equipment belonging to the Trevi Group established in 1969. Soilmec is distributed in more than 70 countries worldwide....
SR-70 hydraulic rotary rig
Drilling rig
A drilling rig is a machine which creates holes or shafts in the ground. Drilling rigs can be massive structures housing equipment used to drill water wells, oil wells, or natural gas extraction wells, or they can be small enough to be moved manually by one person...
owned by Bachy Solentache began work on drilling piles on the site managed by Bachy's Project Manager, Chris Wallbank. After the excavation of earth and assembly of two cranes on site, two slipform structures were assembled in November 2008. In December 2008, these two slipform structures began to rise and the two cores for the building were constructed and topped out. The plaza level was then cleared of construction materials, although the two tower cranes remained in position. Construction stalled in January 2009 following the financial issues with Anglo Irish Bank.
Ballymore began looking to have the loan refinanced aiming to restart construction in the third quarter of 2010 after receiving financing from Barclays, who occupy office space in 1 Snowhill. Finally, in April 2011 Hines
Hines Interests Limited Partnership
Hines Interests Limited Partnership is privately held international commercial real estate concern with its headquarters located in the Williams Tower in Uptown Houston, Texas...
confirmed it will fund the completion of Two Snowhill. Construction commenced in May 2011, with funding provided by the London branch of Deutsche Hypo. Balfour Beatty
Balfour Beatty
Balfour Beatty plc is a British construction, engineering, military housing, rail and investment services company. It is one of the largest construction companies in the UK, and the 15th largest in the world...
have been hired as the main contractor for the project, which is now due for completion in early 2013. Other members of the design and construction team include for facade engineers Yuanda, The Weedon Partnership Architects, structural engineers Caunton and Curtins, building services sub-contractors Rotary, and building services consultants Arup
Arup
Arup is a global professional services firm headquartered in London, United Kingdom which provides engineering, design, planning, project management and consulting services for all aspects of the built environment. The firm is present in Africa, the Americas, Australasia, East Asia, Europe and the...
and Cundall
Cundall
Cundall is a hamlet in the Harrogate district of North Yorkshire, England. It is one of the Thankful Villages that suffered no fatalities during the Great War of 1914 to 1918....
.
St. Chad's Circus
The realignment and reconfiguration of St Chad's Circus on the Inner Ring Road freed up extra space on the Snowhill site to allow the construction of Phase 3. The contract for this work was awarded to Birse CivilsBirse Civils
Birse Civils is a civil engineering company based in North Yorkshire. It was formerly a separate civil engineering company simply known as Birse Group, but is now owned by Balfour Beatty.-History:The company was founded as the Birse Group in 1970...
. A pedestrian crossings and a landscaped public square in front of St Chad's Cathedral are to be created as a result of the work. Work on the Snow Hill Queensway commenced on 24 July 2006 and the work on St Chad's Circus commenced on 10 August 2006 with the removal of the subways beneath the site. St. Chad's Circus was turned into two linked traffic signal controlled T-junctions. In addition, re-waterproofing and structural improvements to the St Chad's underpass were carried out above the tunnel. Work on Snow Hill Queensway was completed in January 2007. The St Chad's Circus slip roads were closed temporarily from 14 January 2007 to 28 May 2007. Work on St Chad's Circus was expected to be completed in October 2007, however, good weather conditions resulted in work being completed in July 2007. Landscape work on the new square was completed in December 2007 and was designed by Macfarlane Wilder.
Equipment
The construction of Phase 2 is aided by two tower cranes on either side of the structure. The cranes used at Phase 2 are the LiebherrLiebherr Group
The Liebherr Group is a German manufacturing complex established in 1949 by Hans Liebherr. The Liebherr Group's holding company is Liebherr-International AG in Bulle, Switzerland, which is entirely owned by members of the Liebherr family...
200 EC-H10 and the flat top Liebherr 200 EC-B 10.
For the work at basement level at Phase 3, Bachy Soletanche used two 50 tonnes (49 LT) support cranes and two Bauer
Bauer
Bauer is a German family name. It translates in English as peasant or farmer.-Surname:Notable people of this name include:* André Bauer , American politician* Belinda Bauer , Australian actress* Bill Bauer, Canadian writer...
BG 22 piling rigs. Construction of Phase 3 is being assisted by three tower cranes. The first crane to be assembled, TC3, is to be the shortest of the three tower cranes. It has a maximum height of 45 m (148 ft) and has a luffing jib. It was built in one stage. It is a free standing crane and will allow podium level construction. Once construction at podium level is completed, it will be dismantled and replaced by two number gantry joists.
The second tallest crane, TC2, was initially assembled to 68.5 m (225 ft) under the hook. This will allow the hotel tower to be constructed to level 12. It will then be extended in height to 99.8 m (327 ft) under the hook with a tie to the hotel tower at 53.4 m (175 ft) (level 11). This will allow the hotel tower to be constructed to full height. The tallest of the cranes, TC1, was expected to be initially be built to 82 m (269 ft) under the hook and to allow the residential tower to be built to level 14. However, it was constructed to a lower height. It will be extended to 113.4 m (372 ft) with a tie to the residential tower at 57.7 m (189 ft) up. This will allow the residential tower to be built to level 26. After this, it will be extended up to 130 m (427 ft) with an additional tie to the tower at 84.7 m (278 ft) (level 21). This will allow the tower to be built up to level 36. It will be extended again once more to 154 m (505 ft) with a third tie 114.7 m (376 ft) up (level 31), which will allow the tower to go to full height. It is expected that TC1 and TC2 will be dismantled at around the same time. TC3 and TC2 are Wolff
Wolff
Wolff is the surname of:*Albert Wolff , Dutch conductor and pianist*Albert Wolff , German sculptor*Albert Moritz Wolff , German sculptor*Albert Wolff *Alexander Wolff, American writer...
180B luffing jib tower cranes whilst TC1 has a fixed jib.
By the start of November 2008, all the tower cranes on the site of Phase 3 had been disassembled due to it being put on hold. Two tower cranes have since been constructed on the site of Phase 4.
1 Snowhill sale
In September 2009, the 1 Snowhill office block was put up for sale by Ballymore, with the agents Jones Lang LaSalleJones Lang LaSalle
Jones Lang LaSalle, Inc. is a multinational financial and professional services company specializing in real estate. Global headquarters are located in Chicago, with an operational remit covering the Americas regional market...
asking for £111 million (€123m). Eight offers were received from mainly overseas investors including Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
i investor Igal Ahouvi and the Luxembourg
Luxembourg
Luxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland in the south...
-based fund manager Aerium. In November 2009, Ballymore confirmed the building had been sold to Commerz Real for £128 million (€142m), higher than the asking price.
See also
- Redevelopment of Birmingham
- List of tallest buildings and structures in Birmingham