Birmingham's largest mixed use building

A former Royal Mail sorting office has been redesigned as Birmingham's largest mixed use building.

The Mailbox includes two hotels, 200 rooftop apartments, 23,000m2 Category A office space, shops, restaurants, bars and secure car parking. Railtrack has taken office space in the building.

Design and build contractor Crown House Engineering excavated a disused canal basin to provide a waterfront. Since the apartments were built onto an existing roof, it was necessary to devise an air conditioning system for the office space without using air-cooled chillers or cooling towers. The solution was to use the canal water as a heat rejection medium, with a capacity, at present, of 3000 kW.