Jack from our Birmingham studio took part in last week’s Building Brum: The Briefings event, which dedicated its latest session to the transformation of 35 Newhall Street in Birmingham’s Colmore Business District.

The panel brought together members of the project team, with each speaker exploring the scheme’s progression from their own area of expertise. Jack spoke alongside Paul Norris of Estilo Interiors, Melissa Cicin-Sain of Webb Yates Engineers and Luke Blyth of Hoare Lea, offering a combined insight into the collaborative approach behind this significant commercial retrofit.

Jack presented the architectural vision for 35 Newhall Street, a 54,369 square foot Grade A office building currently undergoing a comprehensive refurbishment. The project includes a full façade and roof replacement, an enlarged and redesigned reception, enhanced end of trip facilities and the addition of a new sky lounge and terrace to create high quality amenity for future tenants.

Speaking from the architectural standpoint, Jack outlined several key themes central to the redevelopment:

• The complexities of working with existing building stock, particularly a building that has undergone several extensive refurbishments during its lifetime
• Retrofitting new amenity spaces by transforming previously redundant or underused areas, including plant rooms and inefficient basement car parking
• Increasing net internal area through the infill of the former atrium, where the existing five metre soffit height allowed for a generous and high-quality reception without reinstating the atrium above
• Careful coordination of exposed M&E services to maximise clear heights and create a more open and flexible office environment
• Revealing original 1960s structural elements uncovered during strip out, exposing them to increase height, celebrate the character of the building and ensure that each floor benefits from its own distinctive identity

Jack also noted that every floorplate required a bespoke solution, responding to the unique conditions revealed during the strip out process and ensuring design intent was delivered consistently across the building.

Thanks to Conor Nolan from Building Brum for hosting.