At the heart of the NEC’s £4.5 million transformation has been an Acivico architect that supplied concept designs for the stunning and technically innovative pyramid formations, which will completely change the look and feel of Birmingham’s iconic premier international conference and leisure venue. Principal Architect Alan McBeth developed three gigantic
Birmingham’s New Street Station and Grand Central development is in the running to become the most popular civil engineering project in the UK. The huge scheme, named the winner of this year’s Institution of Civil Engineers West Midlands’ 2016 Annual Awards, is one of the projects listed for the ICE
Plans have been revealed for a 37 storey apartment block in the middle of Birmingham for the private rented sector. Apache Capital Partners and Moda Living announced that they intend to develop and transform a 3,000 m2 site on Birmingham’s Broad Street into a £145 million purpose built rental development
At the heart of the NEC’s £4.5 million transformation has been an Acivico architect that supplied concept designs for the stunning and technically innovative pyramid formations, which will completely change the look and feel of Birmingham’s iconic premier international conference and leisure venue. Principal Architect Alan McBeth developed three gigantic custom designed trapezoidal shapes, each the size of a three-story house, using the latest design software. When connected, these form a 3D wall of 37 units, reinventing and giving life to the flat facades on five of the halls, originally constructed in 1976. Using state-of-the-art membrane technology and a healthy dose of imagination, the vision was for the facade to be covered with stretched membranes combined with colourful vector graphics panels, positioned between the 3D trapezoidal shapes. “The design required the use of the latest in tensile fabric innovation from within the UK and we found the print graphics specialist in Holland – the only company in the world that could print the polyester fabric which covers the trapezoids to the correct lifespan requirement,” said Alan McBeth. “The magnitude of this work has to be seen to be appreciated, but it is very scalable and there is no doubt this type of design treatment can be applied to give an economical facelift to other aging buildings, large or small, in need of some TLC,” he continued. The final colour changing boulder pattern was designed and supplied by international PR and advertising firm McCann whose programmable LED animated backlighting has created a dynamic and engaging environment for the 7 million annual visitors to the campus, but it’s at night that guests can really see the complex come to life. Acivico has used graphic visualisation technology to share the display. “We are delighted with the outcome of these concept designs by Acivico. The team understood the brief perfectly and came up with a unique concept using innovative technology which they brought to life using superb 3D visuals. The finished results are stunning,” commented Martin Clarke, NEC Marketing Director. The NEC’s ‘project facelift’ will be officially revealed with the launch of the Bear Grylls adventure world in October 2018.
Birmingham’s New Street Station and Grand Central development is in the running to become the most popular civil engineering project in the UK. The huge scheme, named the winner of this year’s Institution of Civil Engineers West Midlands’ 2016 Annual Awards, is one of the projects listed for the ICE People’s Choice Award. It will line up against 11 other schemes from throughout the UK, with the general public having until November 30 to vote for its favourite. The winning infrastructure project will be named in January next year. The Queen opened the new look station in November last year, and features an iconic new atrium over a big passenger concourse, which is five times the size of the atrium at London Euston. The site is characterised by brighter, more spacious platforms, improved entrances, a range of new facilities and an abundance of natural light over the new concourse. At concourse level, it is home to 43 shops with the new Grand Central shopping complex located above, including one of the biggest department stores in the UK – John Lewis. The 450,000 sq ft shopping facility is set to create over 1,000 jobs and will attract more than 50 million visitors each year. ICE said the project had created a dramatic space for rail passengers and redefined the way people use the station – providing them with an impressive new environment for doing business, shopping and socialising. The project has also boosted the city’s image and is acting as a major catalyst for job creation and regeneration. Stephen Ashton, engineering director, Transportation at Atkins said: “We are very proud to have worked in collaboration with our partner organisations to have delivered this iconic station, which has made such a positive impact in just one year to the city of Birmingham and its visitors.” Patrick Power, station manager at Birmingham New Street, said: “The transformation of the station is nothing short of stunning. It is now bigger, brighter and better able to meet the needs of the growing number of passengers who use it each day.”
Plans have been revealed for a 37 storey apartment block in the middle of Birmingham for the private rented sector. Apache Capital Partners and Moda Living announced that they intend to develop and transform a 3,000 m2 site on Birmingham’s Broad Street into a £145 million purpose built rental development through their private rented sector (PRS). The site has been bought from Bloomcrest, in a joint venture between Cordwell Property Group and Richardson Capital LLP. Glenn Howells Architects’ initial designs show that the tower will have 450 apartments and around 3,250 m2 of additional leisure, office and retail space. The project will be delivered by developer Moda Living, an operator of private rented housing, and fully funded by Apache Capital, the London and Gulf based private real estate investment management company. Apache Capital and Moda Living intend to retain ownership of the property and operate it themselves. Through their JV partnership, Apache Capital and Moda Living have a PRS development pipeline of more than 5,000 apartments with an end gross development value of £1 billion. The JV recently secured planning permission for the £128m 466-apartment Angel Gardens development in Manchester that Apache Capital has funded. Richard Jackson, co-founder and managing director of Apache Capital Partners, said: “This prime site is perfectly placed in the heart of central Birmingham and will deliver a completely new standard of residence and lifestyle for the city centre rental market whilst also becoming part of the local community and supporting the city’s continued strong growth. “Funding support from our institutional investors remains strong for our secured premium PRS development pipeline that we will own and operate for the long term.” Meanwhile, more than 900 apartments look set to be created across three high-rise schemes in Liverpool city centre, including 304 private rented sector homes in a new landmark £80m tower on the waterfront.
