Hanson Investments Ltd.
Residential | Retail
Unknown
RIBA Stage 3
(Spatial Coordination)
Studio KMA were charged with maximising development potential on a highly restricted, irregular shaped site and working within the constraints of the Building Safety Act and consider the impact of daylight and views upon the completed Phase 1 and 2 residential blocks within the wider Masshouse development.
The height restriction of six-storeys determined a 10 apartment scheme capacity for the upper floors above the ground and first floor commercial and retail space designed directly opposite the new Curzon Street rail station – the Birmingham terminus for the High Speed 2 (HS2) rail network.
The highly restricted application site stood in stark contrast to the ambition and investment evident in the area, detracting from any future experience of arrival to the station. The proposal was to be architecturally ambitious to help deliver a contemporary, eco-conscious urban residential landmark.
We worked with Birmingham City Council to help ensure a positive relationship with the changing context and deliver an architectural composition that has a clear visual connection to both the existing, and the new design language in the area.
The proposal delivered a final piece of the jigsaw for the highly visible Masshouse development, complimenting the design of the HS2 station building directly opposite with an aesthetic that straddles a line between late-modernist rationalism and 21st-century sustainable urbanism.
