View from Birmingham Canal Old Line
Location plan
Arrangement concept
Site axonometric
View along Icknield Street
Icknield Square
Harnessing the best of suburban and city centre living, Icknield Square, a new canalside neighbourhood, will enrich an already blossoming area south of Birmingham city centre.
Neighbouring the ever-evolving community of Port Loop, the site benefits from a unique canalside location and proximity to the city centre, with just a 15-minute walk taking residents to Brindley Place along the towpath. Historically, the local area’s vast network of waterways housed heavy industry, particularly in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Our response to the site takes cues from the site’s industrial past, ensuring that what was once a redundant plot of brownfield land for the past decade can become a sustainable community.
Two plots with three distinct forms—Marker, Warehouse and Shopfronts—populate the canal edges, taking cues from the industrial warehouses and businesses that once occupied the area. The four ‘Warehouse’ blocks comprise much of the scheme and evoke the heritage of the industrial sheds of the past. The linking ‘shopfront’ buildings have full-height brickwork with subtle brick detailing, referencing the nearby Biddle & Webb building, such as coach lines and a textured brick base to add visual interest to the street edge. The 10-storey marker building will be a rich, vibrant red brick punctuating the scheme.
The new 243 build-to-rent waterside apartments with cantilevering balconies will add variety to the mix of family homes at the adjacent Port Loop, enhancing the setting of the canal crossing with a new public square, Icknield Wharf, allowing the local community access down to the water’s edge and space to enjoy and socialise.
| Client | Places for People | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Location | Birmingham | ||||
| Size | 0.84 hectares | ||||
| Status | Current | ||||
| Homes | 243 build-to-rent apartments | ||||
| Team |
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Alex Marangoci | Breffni O’Brien |
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