Masshouse

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Coordinates: 52°28′54.46″N 1°53′25.64″W / 52.4817944°N 1.8904556°W / 52.4817944; -1.8904556
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Block I after it has been topped out, July 2006.

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.

History[edit]

The Masshouse area was in Victorian times nothing else but Masshouse Lane, which 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.

Clearance of the area began in 1961 to make way for the Carrs Lane to Central Fire Station section of Birmingham's inner ring road, which opened in June 1965.[4][5] An elevated roundabout named Masshouse Circus was then constructed to link the A47 road to the city centre, and intersect with the ring road underpass. There were six pedestrian subways: [6]

  • New Meeting
  • Henns Walk
  • James Watt
  • Chapel Street
  • Ryder
  • Hospital

Birmingham's inner ring road became known as the "concrete collar" as it restricted expansion of the city centre.[7] In March 2002, Masshouse Circus was demolished to clear land for redevelopment; referred to as the "breaking of the concrete collar".[8][9][10][11] International Development Secretary and MP for Ladywood, Clare Short, while witnessing the start of demolition in March 2002 described Masshouse Circus as an "ugly monstrosity [that] has shamed our city".[12] The work was carried out by Birse Civils and designed by Gifford & Partners[13] in a contract worth £24.2 million. The contractors sought to reuse the 20,000 cubic metres (26,000 cu yd) of reinforced concrete removed during demolition.[14] Over £9 million from the European Regional Development Fund was invested into the project.[15] Pieces of 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.[16] The land was left as a car park for a number of years as plans and designs for the development were finalised.

A replacement road, the B4100 Moor Street Queensway, to connect the Bullring Shopping Centre with Jennens Road was completed and opened in August 2003.

Development[edit]

Block I. in April 2007.

The initial development was planned in two phases; Phase 1 retained the Masshouse name and Phase 2 was called City Park Gate,[17] after the new Eastside City Park laid out as part of the development.

Masshouse[edit]

The planning application for Block I was submitted in October 2004.[18] Construction cost £30 million and the 14-storey building consists of 173 studio, one and two-bedroom apartments. The first residents had moved in by February 2007.[19] The building is clad in 6,000 m2 (65,000 sq ft) of pre-cast panels with a complex mixture of finishes; some contain 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 cladding panels are either concave or convex with pointed ends and most were pre-fitted with windows at the Techrete factory to accelerate the construction process.[20]

Block M

Masshouse submitted plans for a second residential building named Block M in August 2006.[21] Construction commenced in August 2007 and was due for completion in 2009[22] however, the collapse of development partner David McLean in 2008 caused construction to be put on hold. In 2009 McLaren were appointed to take over from David McLean and construction recommenced and completed in 2011.[23] 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.[24] The apartments went on sale in Spring 2011 under the name Hive, studio apartments started at £90,000 and one bedroom apartments at £110,000. 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.[25]

Exchange Square[edit]

Outline planning permission for the development of land used as a car park on the site of Masshouse Circus was granted to Manchester-based developer, Nikal in 2013.[26] In 2016, the scheme known as Exchange Square received planning approval for a total of over 800 apartments in two phases.[27][28] Phase 1, named 'Allegro', comprises two blocks of apartments for rent and was completed in 2019.[29] Phase 2, included a Premier Inn opened in March 2023, and a 34-storey tower of 375 apartments, retail units and a roof garden topped out in June 2023.[30][31]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Chinn, Carl The Streets of Brum (Part 3). Studley: Brewin Books, 2006.
  2. ^ The Victoria History of the County of Warwick, vol.7. London: Oxford University Press, 1964
  3. ^ "Showell's Dictionary of Birmingham".
  4. ^ "Schedule maintained on £24 million scheme - Masshouse Circus". Birmingham Post (County ed.). 4 September 1961. p. 7. Retrieved 13 May 2024.
  5. ^ Lewis, John (29 June 1965). "20 minute crawl on new road". Birmingham Post. p. 7. Retrieved 13 May 2024.
  6. ^ "Infilled Subways (cached by Google)". Birmingham City Council (republished by Google). Retrieved 31 May 2008.[permanent dead link]
  7. ^ "How Masshouse Circus splits the centre of Birmingham (Archive)". Birmingham City Council. Archived from the original on 10 May 2008. Retrieved 2008-05-31.
  8. ^ Phil Jones. "The city as artwork: the dismemberment of modern Birmingham" (PDF). University of Birmingham. Retrieved 31 May 2008.
  9. ^ Young, Graham (19 May 2019). "Spectacular demolition pictures show how Brum loves to smash things up". Birmingham Live. Retrieved 13 May 2024.
  10. ^ "Masshouse Circus (Archive)". Birmingham City Council. Archived from the original on 12 May 2008. Retrieved 2008-05-31.
  11. ^ "The fairy dust of renaissance". Financial Times (republished by Eprop). 31 May 2002. Archived from the original on 30 September 2006. Retrieved 31 May 2008.
  12. ^ Brady, Emma (12 March 2002). "Final act for the Circus and its concrete collar". www.thefreelibrary.com. The Birmingham Post. Retrieved 13 May 2024.
  13. ^ "Masshouse Circus Redevelopment, Birmingham". Gifford Ltd. Retrieved 31 May 2008. [dead link]
  14. ^ "Masshouse Circus Redevelopment, Birmingham". Better Public Buildings. Archived from the original on 27 September 2006. Retrieved 31 May 2008.
  15. ^ "EU Funding 2000-2006 Birmingham Case Studies". Birmingham City Council. Retrieved 31 May 2008. [dead link]
  16. ^ "PRESS RELEASE: MASSHOUSE CIRCUS 50p A CHUNK!". Birmingham Friends of the Earth. 1 May 2002. Archived from the original on 4 December 2008. Retrieved 2008-05-31.
  17. ^ "City Park Gate". World Construction Network. 30 July 2007. Retrieved 13 May 2024.
  18. ^ "Birmingham tower to kick off new district". Property Week. Property Week. 15 October 2004. Archived from the original on 9 August 2011. Retrieved 31 May 2008.
  19. ^ "Eastside boost as first homeowners move in at Masshouse". Masshouse. 2 February 2007. Archived from the original on 9 May 2008. Retrieved 2008-05-31.
  20. ^ Stephen Mold (1 October 2005). "High-rise residential buildings". Concrete (republished by All Business). Retrieved 31 May 2008.
  21. ^ Steve Pain (3 August 2006). "Masshouse plans Eastside expansion". Birmingham Post. Archived from the original on 21 May 2011. Retrieved 31 May 2008.
  22. ^ "£23 million second phase release marks return of Eastside success". Masshouse. 4 June 2007. Retrieved 31 May 2008. [dead link]
  23. ^ Lewis, Mark (2 July 2009). "McLaren picks up Birmingham Masshouse job". Construction News. Retrieved 31 August 2009.
  24. ^ Neil Nickolds (5 October 2007). "Masshouse starts to climb at Eastside". Emporis. Archived from the original on 17 March 2008. Retrieved 2008-05-31.
  25. ^ "Masshouse scheme to tap into green powers". Birmingham Post. 29 July 2009. Retrieved 11 July 2011.
  26. ^ O'Brien, Cillian (18 December 2013). "Exchange Square development at Masshouse Circus given outline planning consent". Business Live. Retrieved 13 May 2024.
  27. ^ Elkes, Neil (28 April 2016). "27-storey Masshouse tower block plans approved". Birmingham Live. Retrieved 13 May 2024.
  28. ^ Jones, Tamlyn (16 May 2016). "New image released of Birmingham city centre flats project". Birmingham Live. Retrieved 13 May 2024.
  29. ^ Jones, Tamlyn (11 June 2019). "Milestone reached for Birmingham apartment project". Business Live. Retrieved 13 May 2024.
  30. ^ Jones, Tamlyn (26 June 2023). "Birmingham's 34-storey Exchange Square project 'tops out'". Business Live. Retrieved 13 May 2024.
  31. ^ Brock, Alexander (30 January 2024). "The Brum city centre 'square' you've probably never heard of". Birmingham Live. Retrieved 13 May 2024.

External links[edit]

52°28′54.46″N 1°53′25.64″W / 52.4817944°N 1.8904556°W / 52.4817944; -1.8904556

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