Birmingham Gateway

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It may contain information of a speculative nature and the content may change dramatically as the construction and/or completion of the railway station approaches, and more information becomes available.

The Birmingham Gateway project is a redevelopment scheme to regenerate Birmingham New Street Station and the shopping centre above it so that it can accommodate increased passenger numbers.

The project has been split into two phases since its approval in 2003. Phase 1 is the redevelopment of the Pallasades Shopping Centre and Phase 2 is the redevelopment of the rest of the station.

The current station which was completed in the 1960s has become disliked by the public. The station is also running at a passenger capacity which is also unfit for the stations layout and design.

In 2005, Arup headed a campaign for a new major railway station named Birmingham Grand Central to be built in the Eastside of Birmingham ^[1] however this vision did not materialise and politicians dismissed the need for the station.

1 The design
2 Planning of the development
3 References
4 External links

[edit] The design

The design for the station has been produced by John McAslan & Partners. Other designs were revealed which shows a station on a grander scale however these were dismissed due to the cost of construction.

The design will involve the demolition of the existing station's facade. The entrance to the shopping centre from New Street via a ramp which currently exists will not change. The major changes to the exterior will be seen from Smallbrook Queensway, Station Street and Navigation Street. The entrance from Smallbrook Queensway is the most commonly seen as it is directly opposite the Bull Ring Shopping Centre. The facade will be transformed into a glass structure which will be curved at the corners. The same will be seen from Navigation Street however the curve at the corners will not be as large. The current glass "arrowheads" which are located at the end of the platforms will remain as they are a recent addition to the station.

Station Street will see the largest change as it is currently a minor entrance on a small street. The proposal shows two 130 metre tall towers located either side of a public area which rises to the station via steps. The two glass towers will both be 30 storeys maximum and will be completely identical except for one tower will have a smaller footprint than the other. One tower will be residential whilst the other will be office. The office tower will be the tallest outside London being 5 metres taller than the currently under construction Willis Building. The towers are set to begin construction in 2008 with completion in 2010 which is before any other parts of the station are finished. Earlier in 2006, there were reports of an extra 10 floors being added to the design^[2]. It is expected that the towers will create 2000 jobs.

Presently, there are five escalators and two lifts serving the station however, the proposals increase the number of escalators to 42 and lifts to 15^[3].

The Stephenson Tower Residents Associations raised objections to the demolition of the tower block above the station.

Objections to the towers have been raised by the residents of Stephenson Tower, a tower block on New Street station which will be served with a compulsory purchase order and demolished as part of the development. One of the towers will partially cover the footprint of Stephenson Tower. Other objections were towards the architecture of the station.

The concourse will be changed so that natural light can enter through a glass roof which currently does not exist. Space within the shopping centre above will be cut back as result of this therefore increasing the passenger concourse by 350%. At platform level, there will be little change to the layout however new waiting rooms will be constructed and have been described as "airport style".

The multi-storey car park on the top of station will be reclad and modernised as well as the ramp leading up to the car park from Hill Street.

Part of the project consists of an extension of the Metro tram system to the railway station with the stop being on Stephenson Street.

[edit] Planning of the development

In May 2006, outline funding applications were submitted to Government agencies including the Department for Transport.

The designs for the proposals were unveiled in June 2006 and in the following month, the Business Case had been completed. During July and August, Warner Estates, the owners of the Pallasades Shopping Centre, were in negotiations with the developers.

A planning application for outline planning permission was submitted in August 9, 2006 with designs and renders and the proposals were publicly welcomed by Birmingham City Council in August 2006^[4]. Construction will begin in 2009 and Phase 1 will be completed in 2011 with Phase 2 being completed by December 2013 however a later report said the entire station will be completed for the 2012 London Olympics^[5].

In early October 2006, the Birmingham City Council leader, Mike Whitby, said he was responsible for saving the development by securing the financing for the project however a report later said that the financial part of the project had already been secured before he came to power^[6]. Soon after this, the proposals were attacked by councillors and planners who considered the designs to be of poor architectural quality and disputed whether the two towers were iconic enough^[7] ^[8]. The reply from the architects were that the designs presented were only initial designs.

In late October 2006, the developers of New Street Station expressed their interest in technology being developed in Japan where the footsteps of the visitors could be used to generate electricity as well as the turnstiles which can be used to generate energy. They also expressed interest in a glass dome to allow heat to enter and heat the station.^[9]

In early November 2006, the development was faced with delays. It was first noted that the development would be decided upon in summer 2007. This came as Gisela Stuart, MP for Edgbaston, warned that this development was vital for Birmingham. A campaign was launched for the public to pledge their support for the development by writing their name and addresses on leaflets and posting them in ballot boxes located around the station. These will be sent to the Department for Transport^[10]. If successful, the redevelopment of the station will make it into the priority list for development being drawn up by the government and is expected to be completed by Christmas 2006. The proposals received outline planning consent from Birmingham city council.

In December 2006, Douglas Alexander revealed that the government were aware of the need for the redevelopment of New Street station however did not reveal what was being done.

In February 2007, Ove Arup, the designers behind the Grand Central station scheme which was ignored by politicians, called for the Birmingham Gateway proposals to be abandoned. They claim that the bottleneck to the east of the station, where twelve tracks become four, is restricting development because trains are queuing to leave and enter the station. They also claim that the station would be running at overcapacity by 2025 if the Birmingham Gateway scheme was to be completed^[11].

When completed, it is expected to have cost over £500 million.