Paradise Birmingham

Octagon is a new residential building being built as part of Paradise Birmingham, the £700 million scheme to regenerate the heart of the city and attract new jobs and visitors to Birmingham.

Octagon will be a 155-metre tall, 49 storey, pure octagonal building – a world first – with 370 homes. It will become a new landmark for the city and will add to the genuine mixed-use nature of Paradise.

Our aim is to develop a residential building that is both highly desirable and highly sustainable.

Build to Rent (BtR) are new build developments designed specifically for renting. All homes are managed and owned by one landlord.

As Paradise becomes a successful mixed-use commercial and visitor destination for Birmingham, it is important to offer the full mix of uses across the site.

These uses currently include office, leisure, retail and other services like a cycle hub and underground parking.

Adding a high-quality residential element to Paradise helps complete the mix and add life to the development around the clock.

It also helps meet the city’s housing needs and support local jobs in the construction sector and its supply chain.

With its growing city living culture, laidback suburbs and diverse food offering, Birmingham was recently named the number one city in the UK outside of London for quality of life – a key factor in attracting investment.

Paradise is perfectly located not just as a place to work, but also as an ideal place for links to public transport, educational and leisure amenities.

The city needs new housing at every level, including Build to Rent (BtR) developments which reflect demand for this right in the heart of the city.

Over the past two decades, Birmingham has had the second fastest growing city centre population in the UK, ahead of cities like Manchester and Leeds, and there are currently 7,000 new residential units either being built or planned across the city centre.

Recent investments by large multinational businesses like HSBC at Centenary Square, and PwC, which has expanded its largest UK regional office after moving to One Chamberlain Square, means there is increased demand for high-quality homes for both key workers and local residents in the city centre.

The architecture of Octagon (a pure octagon with eight equal sides) is an exciting world-first for the city, helping to make the building instantly recognisable on the skyline.

There are also several practical reasons for pursuing this design – the shape of the building responds to the shape of the plot of land upon which it sits, and the design ethos also offers each home fantastic views across the city.

The shape maximises light in every home as well as creating unique appeal thanks to the utilisation of views and space.

Octagon features 370 homes across a mix of mainly one-bed and two-bed homes with a small number of three-bed homes as well.

As a high-profile tall building with a world-first and highly sustainable design ethos, Octagon will become an important part of the city’s skyline for years to come.

We want to create a highly recognisable new landmark for the city that will help Birmingham build its growing reputation both at home and abroad.

Octagon is the first high rise building in the UK to be built with a pressurised core – a class leading fire safety feature that helps protect people for a prolonged period of time in case of emergency or evacuation.

In addition, sprinklers will be installed in all homes and common areas.

Octagon also features non-combustible external cladding that surpasses the latest safety requirements following the Grenfell disaster.

Octagon is a highly sustainable building by design with plenty of natural light and ventilation in each home to promote lower heating bills for residents.

The octagonal, single-core design also means the building uses less materials during its construction phase compared to a traditional rectangular shaped tower of similar height and number of homes.

In line with the rest of Paradise, Octagon also promotes sustainable transport use for its residents and visitors.

As an integral part of the Paradise scheme, parking at Octagon is limited and local public transport links through bus, tram, train and pedestrian routes will be actively promoted instead.

There will only be space for cycle parking incorporated into the building itself, although there will be car parking spaces available nearby if required in existing public car parks and accessible parking spaces provided in the Paradise underground car park.

A proportion of the homes will be provided at a discount from market rents in line with national policy for Build to Rent (BtR) developments.