Golden Square planning application submitted

The design team have now submitted the Golden Square planning application to Birmingham City Council for approval. Full details of the application are available to download from the BCC planning online website. The application number is 2010/02482/PA.

http://eplanning.birmingham.gov.uk/Northgate/PlanningExplorer/ApplicationSearch.aspx

You have until the 17th June 2010 to comment on the design proposals on this website:
http://eplanning.birmingham.gov.uk/Northgate/PlanningExplorer/PLComments.aspx?pk=433148

The Design and Access Statement illustrating the design proposals was submitted as part of the application and is illustrated on this website as a flip book.

The application will be determined before the 8th July 2010.

Learning and Particpation Programme

Applications for Heritage Lottery Fund and Arts Council England funding.

We are developing an exciting programme of activities and events about the Jewellery Quarter for people to take part in. In order to deliver this we are seeking external funding through Heritage Lottery Fund and Arts Council England.

We want to involve a broad range of people who have an interest in the Jewellery Quarter.  These include residents within and around the Jewellery Quarter; local jewellers and designer makers; traders; retailers; manufacturers and creative enterprises.

Through the Learning and Participation programme local people will learn about the many fascinating stories that make up the Jewellery Quarter and will have the opportunity to contribute their own stories, to build a living history of the Jewellery Quarter.

You’re support for this work is vital, please click here to read more and support the learning and participation programme.

Golden Square fly through

Golden Square fly-through from Andy Hartwell on Vimeo.

Design Proposals

The following images were a1 boards presented at the Golden Square public exhibition on Friday.
Visit our Flickr account to view the images in more detail, or download the PDF…
PDF Golden Square A1 exhibition boards

Public Exhibition

Members of the public are invited to attend the Golden Square design proposals public exhibition…

Updated Project Schedule

We are pleased to publish the updated schedule for the Golden Square project:

Public Consultation Event:
26th February, School of Jewellery

Submission for Planning:
Spring 2010

Planning Decision:
Summer 2010

Full Business Case Approval:
end of 2010

Detailed Designs & Contractor Procurement:
Winter 2010 to Spring 2011

Estimated Start on Site:
Summer 2011

Estimated Launch of New Square:
Spring 2012

Jewellery Quarter’s Golden Future Unveiled

Created by Birmingham based architects, Capita Lovejoy, the ‘Golden Square’ will provide a focal point for visitors and shoppers within the Quarter alike – a place to hang out, meet and rest. It will be a space to hold events and markets, to make speeches and to exhibit – a place to take a photo.

Design wise the square will feature a series of “exposed seams” which run like needles on a compass out towards the district’s traditional material sources and global trading partners (particularly places in the USA, Australia and South Africa). These highly reflective features will shape the available space, and frame greenery, seating, lighting and fountains.

Suggested by the earlier street pattern, the new square is subdivided into three key spaces – the plaza, the orchard and the promenade. Taken together, these three spaces provide an essential place in the ‘daily round’ for existing and emerging local communities.

Councillor Neville Summerfield, Cabinet Member for Regeneration at Birmingham City Council, said: “The calibre of entries submitted for this contract was very high, making choosing a winner a pleasingly difficult task.

We believe the chosen design will not only be visually striking, while considerate to its historic surroundings, but also provide the perfect environment within which tourists, shoppers, residents and local businesses alike can live, work and play together.”

The square will be located in the centre of the historic Jewellery Quarter, which is home to more than 1,500 businesses, 200 listed buildings and produces 40% of all the jewellery manufactured in UK each year.

Already a designated conservation area the Quarter has been described by English Heritage as a unique historic environment with few, if any, parallels in Europe, and is currently bidding for World Heritage status.

Andy Williams, Managing Director of Capita Lovejoy, said: “Capita Lovejoy Birmingham is thrilled to have won the international design competition for the Golden Square.

This project is critical for the community and identity of the Jewellery Quarter and will be a significant step forward in delivering the aspirations of Birmingham’s Big City Plan.

We are simply delighted to have the opportunity to be involved in such a significant project, our success is testament to the design skills of our staff and wider design team.”

Capita Lovejoy will be invited to work up detailed plans to enable a planning submission later this year.

Designs plus explanatory notes from all six short-listed practices were placed on public display in the Jewellery Quarter during April and May, providing local people with a chance to have their say on the entries before a decision was taken.

The six short-listed companies were:

• Planit Intelligent Environments (Chesire)
• Capita Lovejoy (Birmingham)
• Page/Park (Glasgow)
• Barton Willmore (Reading)
• ARUP (Solihull)
• FIRA Landscape Ltd (Birmingham)

To judge the competition the Council pulled together an impressive judging panel including Ruth Reed President Elect of the RIBA, panel chairman Andrew Taylor, Founding Partner of Patel Taylor Landscape Architecture practice and Professor Kathryn Moore, Past President of the Landscape Institute.