Transformation of Birmingham’s Mailbox, designed by Stanton Williams, will shortly begin on site following the appointment of Galliford Try as contractors for the scheme. Works on the building are planned for completion in 2015.
Originally completed in 1970, Mailbox was converted into one of the largest mixed use buildings in the UK in 2001, with 16,000sqm of commercial office space (including the British Broadcasting Corporation), two hotels and over 9,000sqm of retail space. An existing public route, with twenty-four hour access, runs through the heart of the building, linking Birmingham’s city centre directly to the cafes and bars on Salvage Wharf across a 17m change in level.
The client’s brief challenged Stanton Williams to re-think the public and retail areas of the building and transform the existing pedestrian route to enhance the relationship between different social activities taking place within it and reinforce Mailbox’s significance within the broader public context of Birmingham’s city centre.
The transformation requires significant alterations to the interior of the existing building, with the removal of large parts of the existing structure to create a new 70m long “Urban Room,” which is designed to function as an internal public space, capable of hosting various events, exhibitions and other social activities - a new type of social meeting place, which also provides a focus for the retail and office areas.
The internal promenade, connected through a series of double-height volumes, is characterised by high-quality natural materials and diffused daylight, which enters the building through a series of fins spanning below the glazed skylight. On the internal elevations the fins fold down to screen views between office and retail areas.
The calm interior is intended to act as a foil to displays and installations and as a framework to support events. The character and proportions of the space encourage the route through the building to be experienced as an opportunity to pause and engage with the activities within the building, whilst retaining a strong connection with the public realm of the city centre.
Gavin Henderson, Director at Stanton Williams in charge of the Mailbox redevelopment, says: “The Urban Room is envisaged as an internal urban space, much as an Assembly Room would have been in the eighteenth century, or the Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall is today. It will play an important role within the on-going regeneration of Birmingham’s public realm.”
Client: Milligan and Brockton Capital LLP
Architecture: Stantons Williams
Project leader: Gavin Henderson
About The Mailbox
The Mailbox is Birmingham’s premier shopping and lifestyle destination with exclusive stores, waterside restaurants, cafe bars, hotels, office accommodation and 24 hour secure parking.
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