Plans in for Birmingham's tallest office block

Plans by Broadway Malyan for Birmingham’s tallest office building have been submitted to the city council.

The proposals for a 30-storey scheme in the Digbeth area of the city went in to planners last week with a public consultation on the development due to finish by the middle of next month.

Developer on the project is Kuwait-based property group Salhia Investments which has increased the height of the tower from an initial 27 storeys when it was first given planning back in 2009.

The scheme was mothballed because of rthe ecession but it has now been dusted down with the tower the second of four phases the developer is planning in a wider scheme known as Beorma Quarter.

The latest phase includes refurbishing the locally listed 135-136 Digbeth and 137 Digbeth, which will be converted into retail space while phase three would see two more towers built – 10 and 14 storeys – and contain a mix of retail, residential and office space.

A fourth phase will contain separate live/work units between these two towers while the whole project will contain 223 apartments.

The new 30-storey tower, which will also include some residential, would become the third tallest building in Birmingham after the BT Tower and Beetham Tower and contain office and residential accommodation.

Phase one is due to finish this summer and has involved renovating the Grade II listed Digbeth Cold Storage building to create office space and an innovation centre while a 108-bedroom apart-hotel, also designed by Broadway Malyan and run by French chain Adagio, is part of this phase as well.

Earlier this month, the council approved plans by Doone Silver Architects to build a 26-storey tower on the site of the NatWest Tower in the city.

The John Madin building was put up in 1976 but has been empty since 2003. The majority of the 26 floors at the new block will be given over to office space.