Huge 48-storey tower gets go-ahead in Birmingham despite heritage concerns

2 Snowhill Plaza survived criticism regarding potential harm caused to nearby heritage assets such as St Chad’s Cathedral and Birmingham Children’s Hospital.

The giant building on Snow Hill Queensway will be built next to the Holiday Inn Express and to the rear of West Midlands Police’s Lloyd House headquarters near Snow Hill railway station.

Historic England concluded the building would cause some harm to the character of the heritage assets in the area.

Inside the tower will be 462 build-to-rent flats with a new public realm, shop space on the ground floor and amenities for residents such as a co-working space, a gym and a cycle workshop. No parking would be provided on-site – instead, 464 cycle spaces will be available to residents.

The development survived a scare at this morning’s planning committee when six councillors voted to refuse the application versus seven approvals. The room was torn between the city’s need for housing and the scheme’s viability in the chosen location.

Councillor Gareth Moore said: “There are some very serious heritage concerns that have been outlined in this. I appreciate they are less than substantial but there is still harm being caused to St Chad’s Cathedral, St Philip’s Cathedral and Birmingham Children’s Hospital.

“I struggle to see how the benefits outlined in the report are unique to this application and couldn’t be delivered through another development on the site. We need to send this back to the drawing board – I’m not convinced this can be done in a way that won’t compromise the heritage assets.”

His Conservative colleague Councillor David Barrie said: “It’s an incredible-sized building – the scale of it dwarfs everything else. A lot of the benefits of this could be promoted on the back of this could be delivered in a much less intrusive development.”

Councillor Lee Marsham, who said he worked opposite the site for three years, added: “This scheme makes use of brownfield land in our city centre which could only ever be a tall tower realistically, it provides a much-needed mix of homes and jobs for our city. Overall I think the benefits outweigh.”

Councillor Colin Green said: “I shall make my usual two comments on a scheme like this. Firstly, Birmingham is in desperate need of all types of housing except one – one-bedroom flats in the city centre.

“Secondly, this scheme doesn’t even get a third of the way to our target of affordable homes. With those two things in mind, I don’t think this is a particularly great development.”

Despite the room being split, those in favour won the vote, leaving residential developer HUB and pan-European real estate investment manager MARK free to begin the works. A vacant commercial property will be demolished to make way for the new tower.

Brad Burridge, Senior Development Manager at HUB, said: “Securing planning permission for this scheme – HUB’s second in Birmingham – means we are a step closer to delivering much-needed high-quality homes in the city centre. 2 Snowhill Plaza will be a striking landmark building for Birmingham, with a new public route that will open up this part of the city centre for pedestrians.

“Our vision for the project is to offer exemplary living in one of Birmingham’s bustling commercial districts, ensuring convenient access to the abundant offerings of this thriving city.”

Lily Lin, UK & Ireland managing director at MARK, said: “Planning approval for 2 Snowhill Plaza reflects the high quality of the scheme’s design, which will provide much-needed rental housing.

“This project – our first UK build-to-rent investment – will be a strong addition to our portfolio of residential-led developments in the UK, through which we are delivering hundreds of homes across a range of price points and tenures in a mix of geographies. HUB has a proven track record of delivery, and we look forward to working with them in progressing the site from construction through to completion.”