Construction work on the latest commercial building at Paradise Birmingham, Three Chamberlain Square, has begun.
Activity to prepare the site for work has already been taking place throughout 2023 and direct work will now be visible upon the site situated next to The Town Hall and fronting Paradise Street as the main construction period begins.
Scheduled to open in 2025, Three Chamberlain Square was awarded planning permission by Birmingham City Council in June 2022, and forms an integral part of the overall Paradise masterplan.
It will help ensure a continued supply of Grade A office space for the city with an emphasis on sustainability and low energy, low carbon design as part of the drive to net zero for the Paradise portfolio.
It will add another new commercial building to the estate while the immediate public realm will help create new connections between Chamberlain Square and Paradise Street.
This includes a new access route for the Town Hall tram stop, aiding both city centre connectivity and improving accessibility to public transport for the millions of pedestrians who access the Paradise estate each year.
Designed by architects Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios (FCBStudios), Three Chamberlain Square is a radical statement of sustainability for the city and aims to be one of the greenest commercial buildings built in the UK post-Covid.
Targeting a BREEAM Outstanding rating, the 189,000 sq ft space will be a first for Birmingham in terms of environmental standards and is being built by construction and engineering contractor Sir Robert McAlpine.
The company, which has already completed work on One Centenary Way at Paradise, will continue its relationship with Paradise as it works on this second key phase of the £1.2 billion Paradise development.
Ross Fittall, of Paradise development and asset manager MEPC, said: ‘This announcement of moving ahead swiftly with Three Chamberlain Square underlines our ongoing commitment to the city and to bringing forward new buildings at Paradise that are at the cutting edge of building technology and sustainability, as well as being of real architectural merit.’
‘Sir Robert McAlpine has already proven itself to us over the past three years as it worked on the successfully completion of One Centenary Way. Its civil engineering skills are essential to a project like Paradise where we are always working within a highly constrained site with complex topography, groundworks, infrastructure and pedestrian flows to deal with.’
Alina White, partner at FCBStudios, said: ‘Our vision for Three Chamberlain Square is a building centred around the three principles of sustainability, wellbeing and place. With a main contractor now on site, we look forward to this vision coming to life over the coming years.
‘Three Chamberlain Square has a prominent city centre location adjacent to the Town Hall and we have worked hard to pay homage to the past while setting new standards of modern design for the city.’
Mark Bessey, Regional Director Midlands at Sir Robert McAlpine, said: ‘After our work on One Centenary Way, we’re really proud to continue our relationship with the team at Paradise and MEPC and look forward to delivering another fantastic new building with high green credentials and commitment to sustainability.’
As well as Three Chamberlain Square, a new 17 storey hotel on the corner of Paradise Street, was approved in 2022, along with three important new public spaces: Ratcliff Square, Western Terrace and Ratcliff Passage.
Together, this work on Three Chamberlain Square, the new hotel and new public realm, will complete the work associated with Phase Two of the development.
Work is also currently well underway on Octagon, the 49 storey apartment tower at the northern apex of the Paradise site.
The new, high-quality spaces and routes in the southern part of the Paradise estate will provide a more fitting environment for the Grade I listed Town Hall and other historic buildings along Paradise Street. Designed by Grant Associates landscape architects, it will build on the success of the refreshed Chamberlain Square, Congreve Street and Centenary Way, which formed Phase One of the development.
As an important contributor to regional growth, Paradise is committed to creating high quality new pedestrian streets and squares for everyone to enjoy as well as improving pedestrian and public transport links across the city.
Paradise Birmingham has already completed phase one of the development with One Chamberlain Square wholly occupied by PwC and Two Chamberlain Square providing some of the best views in Birmingham with stunning vistas across Chamberlain Square itself and of the city’s impressive Classical and Victorian civic architecture. One Centenary Way is also complete, providing 280,000 sq ft of space where international organisations Arup, JLL and Goldman Sachs have already taken space for their Birmingham operations. Leisure operators Dishoom, Rosas Thai Café and Albert’s Schloss will be joined by the new Yorks Café and F1® Arcade later this year.
At almost 2 million square feet, Paradise is delivering up to ten new flagship buildings, offering offices, shops, bars, cafés, restaurants, a high-quality hotel and Octagon, the world-first 49 storey pure octagonal residential tower, across 17 acres in the heart of the city.
The Paradise redevelopment is being brought forward through Paradise Circus Limited Partnership (PCLP), a private-public joint venture with Birmingham City Council. Paradise sits in the country’s largest city centre Enterprise Zone and has already benefited from investment by the Greater Birmingham and Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership (GBSLEP) in enabling and infrastructure works.