Masshouse is a development site in Birmingham, United Kingdom where 13 highrise blocks are being constructed for public services, commerce and residential purposes. When completed,[ when? ] the blocks will have a prominent position on the Eastside skyline.
The Masshouse area existed in the Victorian times as nothing else but Masshouse Lane. It was a small lane which was connected to Dale End and the junction at Albert Street and Duddeston Row. The name derives from the establishment of a Roman Catholic chapel (i.e. for the celebration of Mass) there by a Franciscan priest, Leo Randolph, in 1687, followed by a convent in March 1688. Both were burned down by a mob, instigated by the Protestant Lord Delamer, in November 1688. [1] [2]
Showell's Dictionary of Birmingham (1885) describes the building and destruction of the "mass house": [3]
Masshouse Lane:- Takes its name from the Roman Catholic Church (or Mass House, as such edifices were then called) erected in 1687, and dedicated to St. Mary Magdalen and St. Francis. The foundation stone was laid 23 March, in the above year, and on 16 August 1688, the first stone of a Franciscan Convent was laid adjoining to the Church, which latter was consecrated 4 Sept.. The Church was 95ft long by 33ft. wide, and towards the building of it and the Convent, James II gave 125 "tuns of timber," which were sold for £180; Sir John Gage gave timber valued at £140; the Dowager Queen Catherine gave £10 15s.; and a Mrs. Anne Gregg, £250. This would appear to have been the first place of worship put up here by the Romish Church since the time of Henry VIII., and it was not allowed to stand long, for the Church and what part of the Convent was built (in the words of the Franciscan priest who laid the first stone) "was first defaced, and most of it burrent within to near ye vallue of 400lb., by ye Lord Dellamer's order upon ye 26 of November, 1688, and ye day sevennight following ye rabble of Birmingham begon to pul ye Church and Convent down, and saesed not until they had pulled up ye foundations. They sold ye materials, of which many houses and parts of houses are built in ye town of Birmingham, ye townsmen of ye better sort not resisting ye rabble, but quietly permitting, if not prompting them to doe itt."
From 1749 to 1943 it was the site of St Bartholomew’s Church, Birmingham.
It was developed in the 1960s into an elevated 800-metre (2,625 ft) [4] road intersection on the A4400 road and was named Masshouse Circus. [5] The area below it was cleared and used as a surface car park. The elevated roadways were made of concrete which created an appearance disliked by locals. Under the roads was a large car park with pedestrian subways. There were six subways: [6]
The ring road became known as the "concrete collar" and restricted the expansion of the city centre core beyond it into the east. [7]
In March 2002, the roundabout was demolished to clear the land for development; this was referred to as the "breaking of the concrete collar". [8] The work was carried out by Birse Civils and designed by Gifford & Partners [9] in a contract worth £24.2 million. The contractors sought to reuse the 20,000 cubic metres (26,000 cu yd) of reinforced concrete that was removed during demolition. [10] Over £9 million from the European Regional Development Fund was invested into the project. [11]
A replacement road to connect the Bullring Shopping Centre with Jennens Road was completed and opened in August 2003. However, this was closed for a time due to a number of injuries to pedestrians. The road (B4100, Moor Street Queensway) is now open although a potential accident spot remains as buses using the Moor Street Queensway bus lane eastbound have to go around a pedestrian crossing point to continue along Queensway at Masshouse. However, the land was left as a car park for a number of years as plans and designs for the development were created. Pieces of the rubble collected from the demolished structure, were put on sale by the Birmingham branch of Friends of the Earth with a price tag of 50p per piece. [12]
Masshouse is now cleared and ready for development with the largest of the three sites being used as a temporary car park. It has been separated into two phases with Phase 1 retaining the Masshouse name and the other plot, Phase 2, being called City Park Gate, named after the new Eastside City Park to be constructed next to it.
Phase 1 will stretch from the McLaren Building to the Park Street. The scheme is being developed by David McLean Developments and has been designed by Edward Cullinan Architects. The entire scheme is expected to cost £350 million [13] and provide 1,100,000 square feet (102,000 m2) of space. [14]
The planning application for Block I was submitted in October 2004. [14] Block I has been completed and the first residents moved into the building in December 2006. Construction of the 14-storey building cost £30 million and consists of 173 studio, one and two-bedroom apartments. [15] Over 50% of the building's 173 apartments were sold in the first week of release. [16] The building is clad in 6,000 m2 (65,000 sq ft) of pre-cast panels. They consist of a complex mixture of finishes with some containing black polished bands bounded by a white concrete frame and finished to two different levels of exposure. The top floor penthouse apartments are clad with grey polished pre-cast panels. Many of the main cladding panels are either concave or convex with pointed ends and most will be pre-fitted with windows at the Techrete factory to accelerate the construction process. [17]
In March 2007, an outline planning application was submitted to Birmingham City Council by GVA Grimley to build a mixed-use development of up to 70,907 square metres (763,240 sq ft) (gross internal area) on Plot 7. The application consisted of four buildings for retail, office, hotel and residential use. [18]
The entire scheme aims to create 500,000 sq ft (46,000 m2) of Grade A office accommodation, 550 high specification apartments, Ground floor cafes, restaurants and retail units, Two new public squares, with traffic free landscaped areas, water features and public art and 800 car parking spaces.
In January 2010, Braemar Estates (Residential) Ltd were appointed as property managers to Block I at Masshouse.
Block M (Hive)
Masshouse submitted plans for a second residential building named Block M in August 2006. [19] Construction commenced in August 2007 and was due for completion in 2009 [20] however, the collapse of development partner David McLean in 2008 caused the construction to be put on hold. [21] [22] In 2009 McLaren were appointed to take over from David McLean and construction recommenced and completed in 2011. [22] The development is estimated to have cost £23 million and consists of 167 studio, one and two bedroom apartments with 12 apartments per floor over 14 floors. [23] The apartments went on sale in Spring 2011 under the name Hive, studio apartments start at £90,000 and one bedroom apartments start at £110,000. Although the apartments are on sale hard landscaping at the eastern side is incomplete and due to delays to the Magistrates Court project the western side remains as derelict land. All properties are powered by Birmingham District Energy Company (BDEC), the first time residential homes in the city have benefited from the city's district water heating system the apartments receive power from the new Jennens Road Energy Centre on Aston University’s campus. [24]
The Rotunda is a cylindrical highrise building in Birmingham, England. The Grade II listed building is 81 metres (266 ft) tall and was completed in 1965. Originally designed to be an office block, by architect James A. Roberts A.R.I.B.A., it was refurbished between 2004 and 2008 by Urban Splash with Glenn Howells who turned it into a residential building, with serviced apartments on 19th and 20th floors. The building was officially reopened on 13 May 2008.
Mailbox Birmingham is a mixed-use development located within the city centre of Birmingham, England. It houses British luxury department store chain Harvey Nichols, and the BBC Birmingham studios.
The Big City Plan is a major development plan for the city centre of Birmingham, England.
Dubai Marina, aka Marsa Dubai, is a district in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It is an artificial canal city, built along a 3-kilometre (2 mi) stretch of Persian Gulf shoreline. As of 2018, it has a population of 55,052. When the entire development is complete, it will accommodate more than 120,000 people in residential towers and villas. It is located on Interchange 5 between Jebel Ali Port and the area which hosts Dubai Internet City, Dubai Media City, and the American University in Dubai. The first phase of this project has been completed. Dubai Marina was inspired by the Concord Pacific Place development along False Creek in Vancouver, BC, Canada.
Queensway is the name of a number of roads in central Birmingham, especially those that formed the A4400 Inner Ring Road. The name most often refers to the Great Charles Street Queensway tunnel, part of the A38.
The Birmingham Post and Mail building was constructed in the 1960s and was a symbol of the rebuilding of Birmingham, England, following the devastation of World War II.
10 Holloway Circus is a 400-foot (122 m) tall mixed-use skyscraper in Birmingham city centre, England. It was originally named after the developers, Beetham Organisation, and was designed by Ian Simpson and built by Laing O'Rourke. The entire development covers an area of 7,000 square feet (650 m2). It is the second tallest building in Birmingham and the 74th tallest building in the United Kingdom.
Union Square is a commercial and residential real estate project in Hong Kong on the West Kowloon reclamation. Covering 13.54 hectares, the site has a gross floor area of 1,090,026 square metres (11,732,940 sq ft), approximately the size of the Canary Wharf development in London. As of 2011, the site contained some of the tallest buildings in Hong Kong — including the tallest commercial building in Hong Kong, the 118-storey International Commerce Centre and the loftiest residential tower in Hong Kong, The Cullinan.
The Orion Building is a 90-metre (295 ft) tall high rise residential building on Navigation Street, Birmingham 5, England. Construction of the tower began in 2004 with demolition of the previous building on the site, and was completed in 2007. As part of the development, the original façades of some of the previous buildings have been retained and incorporated into the lowrise sections of the complex. The complex consists of a 28-storey tower with five basement floors. It includes the city's first penthouse which was sold for £1.65 million. The fourth and final phase of the building, being marketed as 'Sirius', is nearing completion.
Eastside is a district of Birmingham City Centre, England that is undergoing a major redevelopment project. The overall cost when completed is expected to be £6–8 billion over ten years which will result in the creation of 12,000 jobs. 8,000 jobs are expected to be created during the construction period. It is part of the larger Big City Plan project.
Martineau Galleries is a proposed mixed-use development for Birmingham, England which was shelved in 2009 but re-approved in 2020. It was to connect the Eastside to the city centre core, a major retail area.
Curzon Gate was a residential development located on the edge of Birmingham City Centre, England, on a prominent gateway site into the city centre. The land was formerly occupied by Castle Cement silos. The 4-acre (1.6 ha) site was located in the Eastside area, which is currently witnessing a large-scale regeneration scheme. It was located next to Curzon Park and opposite Eastside Locks, both of which are developments. It was bounded by a railway viaduct to the south and a road junction on the A4540 road. It was separated from Curzon Park by the Digbeth Branch Canal.
Eastside Locks is a major mixed-use development in the Eastside area of Birmingham, England. It is located next to the City Park development and opposite Curzon Gate. It is alongside the already completed Millennium Point and will cover the area to the rear of the building on top of the area alongside the road. It covers an area of 15.24 acres (6.17 ha). A replacement car park will be a multistorey building fronting Jennens Road.
The Cube is a 24-storey mixed-use development in the centre of Birmingham, England. Designed by Ken Shuttleworth of Make Architects, it contains 135 flats, 111,500 square feet (10,359 m2) of offices, shops, a hotel and a 'skyline' restaurant. It is the final phase of The Mailbox development.
Snowhill is a mixed-use development in the Colmore business district, known historically as Snow Hill, in Central Birmingham, England. The area, between Snow Hill Queensway and Birmingham Snow Hill station, is being redeveloped by the Ballymore Group. The £500 million phased scheme has been partly completed on the site of a former surface car park adjacent to the railway station and West Midlands Metro terminus.
Birmingham City Centre, also known as Central Birmingham and often known locally as town, is the central business district of Birmingham, England. Following the removal of the Inner Ring Road, the city centre is now defined as being the area within the Middle Ring Road. The city centre is undergoing massive redevelopment with the Big City Plan, which means there are now nine emerging districts and the city centre is approximately five times bigger.
Paradise, formerly named Paradise Circus, is the name given to an area of approximately 7 hectares in Birmingham city centre between Chamberlain and Centenary Squares. The area has been part of the civic centre of Birmingham, England since the 19th century when it contained buildings such as the Town Hall, Mason Science College, Birmingham and Midland Institute buildings and Central Library. The site was redeveloped from 1960 to 1975 into the present Paradise Circus based within a roundabout on the Inner Ring Road system containing a new Central Library and School of Music. From 2015 Argent Group will redevelop the area into new mixed use buildings and public squares.
Coordinates: 52°28′54.46″N1°53′25.64″W / 52.4817944°N 1.8904556°W