Calthorpe Estates’ vision to create a thriving leisure and lifestyle community in the heart of Edgbaston moves on a pace. The latest proposals for Edgbaston Village will see the sympathetic conversion of an existing Victorian building into an attractive restaurant with office space above.
Proposals have been put forward to transform 30 Harborne Road, which was formerly the front of the Nat West bank on the corner of Greenfield Crescent, to create new leisure and commercial office space. The plans, designed by Birmingham architects St Paul’s Associates, imaginatively combine the late Victorian architecture of the main building and coach house with contemporary features such as glazed frontages and a double ceiling height atrium.
30 Harborne Road, if planning is granted, will provide 4,323 sq. ft. of restaurant space and 3,502 sq. ft. of office space on the two levels above and could make way for Boston Tea Party to open a vibrant café restaurant serving high quality food and drinks in a unique informal setting.
Tim Abbotts, Director of Estates at Calthorpe Estates, outlined how Edgbaston Village is starting to take shape: “These latest proposals to sensitively convert the period building to new uses will further enhance Edgbaston Village’s broader appeal, coupled with changes to the street scape on Greenfield Crescent and the new public car parks. There is a real interest in the area and it is exciting to see how period buildings, like this property, 16-22 Harborne Road and 10-15 Greenfield Crescent, are being renovated to make way for potentially Boston Tea Party and other new retail and leisure operators to provide high end services and add to our thriving leisure and lifestyle community.”
The works will include replacing the mock coach house gates with glazed folding sliding doors and creating double height spaces, reconfiguring the landscaping and car parking whilst keeping the existing extension at the back where Nat West will remain.
Managing Director and Owner of the Boston Tea Party, Sam Roberts said the opportunity complimented the ethos of what the company is about: “Boston Tea Party started in Bristol as a modern independent British style café with mission to serve good things in great places. We specialise in selling fresh, local food and drinks sourced from independent local suppliers to a mixed clientele within informal high quality surroundings. The unique and prominent building within Edgbaston Village provides an ideal opportunity to build on the success of our existing Birmingham cafés in Harborne and Corporation Street, by appealing to people working, living or visiting Edgbaston.”
Ben Mabbett, an architect at St Paul’s Associates said: ‘’30 Harborne Road, like so many of the buildings on the Calthorpe Estate has some wonderful period architectural features, which we are bringing back to their original glory and combining with contemporary interiors to create exciting spaces for new uses and tenants. This property has offered us the chance to come up with something a bit special that people in the area can enjoy for decades to come, whilst respecting the building’s heritage.”
The design team on the project comprises Rider Levett Bucknall, Engineering Services Consultancy Ltd, Hydrock structural engineers and SRL Technical Services, subject to planning approval they will work with the architect and Calthorpe Estates to renovate the property.
This latest proposal follows a number of retail and leisure operators moving to Edgbaston Village in the last year. The Physician, a new pub for Brunning & Price, at 36 Harborne Road will open later this year once works to refurbish are completed, whilst the popular High Field gastro pub has just opened the High Field Town House next door with 12 boutique rooms.
