Approval has been recommended to convert an historic ‘flatted factory’ in Birmingham into 131 new homes as part of a scheme that would deliver the city’s first five-storey roof extension.
Lee Bank House at 55 Holloway Head has been tipped for the proposed multi-million pound residential conversion by applicant Claremont Property Group.
If successful, the property developer and investor will retain the existing seven-storey structure and add an additional five storeys to the Holloway Head side of the building and two on the Blucher Street end.
The development, which has been given the working title of ‘Projekt 55’, will create 122 apartment, comprising 47 one-bed, 65 two-bed and 10 three-bed units, providing large, open-plan habitable spaces that exceed minimum local and national space standards. A further nine new townhouses will be developed on Chapmans Passage, with additional space for an office and a restaurant.
K4 architects designed the scheme, which reuses substantive elements of the existing structure, including the main staircases and lift shafts. The development incorporates a range of shared amenity spaces, a roof garden and larger than normal circulation spaces, encouraging social interaction between residents. The redeveloped exterior will create the appearance of a new building, with enhanced facades.
Birmingham City Council's planning committee is due to meet virtually on Thursday 5 November to vote on the application.
Andy Robinson, business development manager at Claremont Property Group, said:
“We’re hugely excited to be delivering the residential conversion of 55 Holloway Head. Our team has worked hard to maximise the full potential of the building’s structural strength to create Birmingham’s first, five-storey roof extension. The scheme offers a fabulous opportunity to create distinctive, chic and functional apartments with private and communal outdoor spaces. It will deliver comfortable living and working from home environments in a prime city centre location.”
55 Holloway Head has a rich history synonymous with the ‘city of a thousand trades’. Built by Birmingham City Council in the late 1950s, the former ‘flatted factory’ as it became known, was designed to accommodate small industrial units displaced by residential schemes in the city centre. It was one of three of its kind built in Birmingham.
The building’s location is exceptionally well served for amenities, including transportation infrastructure, major and secondary convenience retail, leisure and employment centres. Sitting to the west of Birmingham’s Chinatown and the Gay Village, 55 Holloway Head is five minutes’ walk from The Mailbox and ten minutes from the Metro, New Street Station, Grand Central and the Bullring.
Claremont Property Group is rapidly establishing a reputation for breathing new life into historic buildings. The property investor and developer recently completed the conversion of a Grade II listed Edwardian library in Stourbridge. It is currently assisting Birmingham City Council by temporarily converting one of its buildings in the city’s Jewellery Quarter, into temporary accommodation for vulnerable adults and hospital releases during the pandemic.