Howells wins outline consent for Edgbaston Street Gardens development at appeal

Outline planning permission has been granted for Hammerson’s Edgbaston Street Gardens scheme, which had Howells on board as architect.

The development, which would require demolition of the Birmingham’s Bull Ring Indoor Market, would deliver up to 745 apartments or 1,544 student bedrooms, alongside green spaces, retail and leisure uses.

The site, currently occupied by the market with a multistorey car park above, sits adjacent to the Bullring shopping centre and the proposed Smithfield development.

The approval follows Hammerson’s successful appeal against Birmingham City Council’s earlier refusal of the scheme. The developer said the plans “specifically address Birmingham’s needs around housing, the environment, transport and urban regeneration”.

Dav Bansal, partner at Howells, said: “Birmingham needs to build quality housing at a pace and at an ambitious density. Edgbaston Street Gardens transforms an underutilised multi-storey car park and presents the opportunity to unlock hundreds of new homes in a central location that has excellent transport links and is set within an established area of local amenities including leisure, culture and retail.”

The redevelopment forms part of Hammerson’s wider strategy to diversify its Birmingham estate, which includes the Bullring and Grand Central shopping centres. The company said the scheme aims to contribute to Birmingham’s target of delivering more than 30,000 new homes by 2031.

Harry Badham, chief development and asset repositioning officer at Hammerson, said: “This planning consent for Edgbaston Street Gardens is a great outcome given the city’s needs and priorities, especially around housing. As long-term backers of Birmingham, we know the potential growth that is achieved with targeted investment and regeneration.”

A Birmingham City Council report published in January outlined proposals for a temporary indoor market to operate from the former wholesale market site, should the Bull Ring Indoor Market be demolished. The report said the interim facility should be open by the end of 2026, providing continuity for traders displaced by redevelopment.

It also identified Lendlease’s Smithfield regeneration as the preferred long-term location for a new permanent market hall, described as a “once in a generation” opportunity to rehouse traders within a major mixed-use development. The existing Bull Ring Indoor Market building, completed in the early 2000s, was judged to be of “no particular architectural merit”, with the council concluding that its demolition would not raise design or heritage concerns.

David Kohn Architects, working with Eastside Projects, won approval in June 2024 for a new market hall forming the centrepiece of the £1.9 billion Smithfield masterplan. The mixed-use building, developed with Lendlease, will include food and produce markets, restaurants, event spaces and a rooftop garden designed by Todd Longstaffe-Gowan.

Under the approved plans, the indoor market will continue trading from its current site until late 2027 under an extended lease, allowing time for traders to relocate to the new purpose-built market hall. Demolition of the existing indoor market building is expected to begin after this, with construction on the Hammerson site potentially starting in 2028.