Paradise Birmingham

A planning application for the world’s first pure Octagon residential tower has been submitted to Birmingham City Council.

The Paradise redevelopment is being brought forward through Paradise Circus Limited Partnership (PCLP), a private-public joint venture with Birmingham City Council. The private sector funding is being managed by the international business of Federated Hermes. Argent is the development manager.

Octagon continues the latest phase of the Paradise development, the £700 million transformation in the heart of the city.

The 49-storey, 155 metre (510 feet) tall tower will create a stunning new landmark for the city as well as provide up to 346 new homes of outstanding quality and design with views across the city.

There will be a mix of one, two and three bed homes, including some at affordable rents for key workers.

Octagon follows on from the completion of the first phase of this mixed-use development, which includes the first two buildings, One Chamberlain Square and Two Chamberlain, as well as new public realm across the estate.

The next commercial building at Paradise, One Centenary Way, a 13 storey 280,000 sq ft office-led building, is now underway, and another commercial building, Three Chamberlain Square, is currently going through a design competition.

Proposals for Octagon were first shared in May 2020 through a dedicated website and online survey which attracted more than 130 detailed responses from members of the public. This widespread consultation process has influenced the final planning application which now sees improved ground floor legibility and a more extensive lighting strategy for the top of building which will be visible from across the city due to Octagon’s prominence on the Birmingham ridge – a line of higher ground running east-west through the city centre from Snow Hill to Broad Street.

Rob Groves, regional director with Argent, said:

“Our ambition with Octagon continues to be a simple one – to build one of the finest apartment schemes ever seen, not just in Birmingham or the region, but in the UK.

This ambition drives the design and execution of the building and is reflected in everything about it – the height, size of the apartments themselves and their design, the views and the location in the city centre.

“Since the public consultation we conducted in May of this year, we have been listening to the feedback and working hard behind the scenes with Glenn Howells Architects to come up with new elements to this world-class design.

“It has always been our ambition to create a truly mixed-use development at Paradise that includes not just commercial buildings, but also leisure, hotel and residential spaces that complement the buildings we have already completed. 

“By submitting our formal planning application, we now look forward to working with the city to progress the building through the planning process. Vital to this is the public feedback we’ve already received and this will figure prominently in our ongoing conversations will all stakeholders.”

Dav Bansal, partner at Glenn Howells Architects, said:

“The approach for this design is straight forward: we want to create the finest city centre homes ever seen in the UK, in a location that is simply unrivalled and in a building that is a part of a world-class destination.

“This building is not just a first for Birmingham and a new landmark on the city’s skyline, but it will be a distinct and instantly recognisable design offering homes of unparalleled individuality with every home enjoying a generous 12.7m facet of the Octagon, a first ever for a residential product.

“This horizontal expression of the façade enables the internal rooms to open up to panoramic views of the city. With a maximum eight apartments on a floor, the quality on offer reflects Octagon’s setting close to the ingenuity and innovation of the Jewellery Quarter and its key role in the industrial revolution.

“The Paradise development is about many things, including re-connecting the city and adding to the life and vitality of the bringing something new and original to the table. By providing new homes at this location we are making the most of what Paradise has to offer as well as helping set a new benchmark for healthy, sustainable and quality homes in the city.”

Planning consultancy for Octagon is being carried out by the Birmingham office of Turley.

At almost 2 million square feet, Paradise is delivering up to 10 new flagship buildings, offering offices, shops, bars, cafés, restaurants and a hotel across 17 acres in the heart of the city, together with the proposed Octagon building.

Paradise sits in the country’s largest city centre Enterprise Zone and has already benefited from investment by the Greater Birmingham and Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership (GBSLEP) in enabling and infrastructure works.