Reconnecting the City

Integral to the proud heart of Victorian Britain’s leading manufacturing city, Paradise once symbolised the civic values championed by visionary Birmingham mayor and social reformer Joseph Chamberlain. Its 19th century architecture was identified by historian Asa Briggs as one of the most important collections of civic buildings in the world.

But the car-based urbanism of the post-war years had disconnected Birmingham’s city centre with a ring road and Paradise Circus, a multi-level interchange—almost completely severing pedestrian movement to the city centre from the west.

Our challenge was how to repair and connect this historically and strategically important part of the city in a way that meets the needs of people today. Working closely with Birmingham City Council and MEPC (formerly Argent), we developed a strategy to deliver a new vision for a liveable city—an integrated, walkable city district with the right mix of work, play and living. Most importantly, we strove to reconnect Paradise to Birmingham city centre not with roads but with pedestrianised civic space.

The Paradise masterplan is driven by a mission to bring an underused part of the city back to life and into public use, reconnecting Birmingham’s municipal heart. Our design codes for the project encompassed the materiality of individual buildings as well as the experience of shared civic space—from the quality of daylight entering the square to permeability, routes and vistas. Chamberlain Square now honours its historic intentions with buildings old and new set within a cleanly defined, legible townscape—offering space to pause and truly appreciate a remarkable city.

Our feasibility studies encompassed multiple options for around 2 million sq ft of development in a design process that led to swift outline consent and a framework for delivery. Completed in early 2021, the first phase saw the transformation of Chamberlain Square’s public realm and the opening of two high-specification office buildings, One and Two Chamberlain Square.

We’re now working on the next exciting phases of Paradise, which include One Ratcliff Square—a luxury boutique hotel, One Centenary Way—a next-generation workplace, and Octagon—a landmark residential development of 370 new homes framing two new public squares that open up new routes across the city.