Jewellery Quarter's Golden Future Unveiled

June 10 2009

Dramatic designs for a new £1.5 million square at the heart of Birmingham's historic Jewellery Quarter were unveiled today by Birmingham City Council after the public were asked to help choose which of six different proposals should get the go-ahead.

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.

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