Tall & Urban News

Another towering building will be added to Birmingham's skyline after plans for more than 250 plush new canal-side apartments were greenlit.

The Lancaster Wharf development near the junction of Princip Street and New Town Row will see 266 flats created across three new buildings. 

An existing former warehouse will make way for the 23, seven- and six-story structures that will house the new apartments, which will be available for private rent.

Members of Birmingham City Council's planning committee approved the application, by Load Properties Limited, at a meeting on Thursday (8 September 2020).

An officers' report said the development would help regenerate the area and also boost the under-used canal.

It also said residents welcomed the "high-quality attractive development" but wanted to retain the former warehouse entrance in some way to reflect the area's history.

The Canal and River Trust had originally objected due to concerns about the size of the development having a negative impact on the canal environment.

The trust also wanted assurances about protection of the structure of the canal and the water quality but officers said conditions would be imposed on the development to control that.

A similar proposal, which was withdrawn in 2018, sparked opposition from Birmingham Civic Society due to the impact it would have on the nearby Grade II listed St Chad's Cathedral, making it "disappear" from view.

But the society said the new proposal and heritage assessment that accompanied it showed it would cause less than substantial harm.

The report to committee said: "The cityscape of Birmingham has changed significantly since 2003.

"The Gun Quarter area, particularly sites around the canal corridor and A34 Newtown Row frontage continue to be developed with taller buildings such as the 16-story student accommodation block adjacent to the canal on Bagot

Street and the 21-story residential tower under construction as part of the Snow Hill Wharf development on Shadwell Street.

"The site is also within a location where many of the existing buildings are under used or vacant and create a poor environment that requires regeneration and transformation.

"Elsewhere within the city center, canal corridor such as on Brindley Place and the Mailbox tall buildings have been allowed to aid the regeneration and transformation of the area.

"In the case of the Gun Quarter the proposed tall buildings could regenerate the site, create activity on the canal edge and add passive surveillance of the area.

"The majority of the canal towpath is within cuttings or hemmed in on both sides by buildings which makes navigating difficult whereas a tall building could help to signpost the canal and create legibility.

"The canal towpath route is currently quiet, poorly lit and an under-utilized piece of Birmingham’s industrial infrastructure and requires transformation but also needs wayfinding buildings that can help people navigate along this route."

For more on this story, go to Birmingham Mail.