Masshouse
Encyclopedia
Masshouse is a site within Birmingham
, United Kingdom
which is under development with the construction of 13 new highrise blocks intended for public services, commerce
and residential purposes. When completed, the blocks will have a prominent position on the Eastside
skyline.
) 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 Delamere, in November 1688..
Showell's Dictionary of Birmingham (1885) describes the building and destruction of the "mass house":
It was developed in the 1960s into an elevated 800 metres (2,625 ft) road intersection on the A4400 road
and was named Masshouse Circus. The area below it was cleared and used as a surface car park. The elevated roadways were made of concrete which created an appearance disliked by locals. Under the roads was a large car park with pedestrian subways. There were six subways:
The ring road became known as the "concrete collar" and restricted the expansion of the city centre core beyond it into the east.
In March 2002, the roundabout was demolished to clear the land for development and this demolition was named the "breaking of the concrete collar". The work was carried out by Birse Civils
and designed by Gifford & Partners
in a contract worth £24.2 million. The contractors sought to reuse the 20000 cubic metres (26,159 cu yd) of reinforced concrete that was removed during demolition. Over £9 million from the European Regional Development Fund
was invested into the project.
A replacement road to connect the Bullring Shopping Centre with Jennens Road was completed and opened in August 2003. However, this has been closed due to a number of injuries to pedestrians. However, the land was left as a car park for a number of years as plans and designs for the development were created. Pieces of the 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 per piece.
Masshouse is now cleared and ready for development with the largest of the three sites being used as a temporary car park. It has been separated into two phases with Phase 1 retaining the Masshouse name and the other plot, Phase 2, being called City Park Gate
, named after the new Eastside City Park
to be constructed next to it.
Phase 1 will stretch from the McLaren Building
to the Park Street. The scheme is being developed by David McLean Developments and has been designed by Edward Cullinan architects. The entire scheme is expected to cost £350 million and provide 1100000 square feet (102,193.3 m²) of space.
The planning application for Block I was submitted in October 2004. Block I has been completed and the first residents moved into the building in December 2006. Construction of the 14-storey building cost £30 million and consists of 173 studio, one and two-bedroom apartments. Over 50% of the building's 173 apartments were sold in the first week of release. The building is clad in 6000 m² (64,583.5 sq ft) of pre-cast panels. They consist of a complex mixture of finishes with some containing 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 main cladding panels are either concave or convex with pointed ends and most will be pre-fitted with windows at the Techrete factory to accelerate the construction process.
In March 2007, an outline planning application was submitted to Birmingham City Council
by GVA Grimley
to build a mixed-use development of up to 70907 square metres (763,236.6 sq ft) (gross internal area) on Plot 7. The application consisted of four buildings for retail, office, hotel and residential use.
The entire scheme aims to create 500000 sq ft (46,451.5 m²) of Grade A office
accommodation, 550 high specification apartments, Ground floor cafes, restaurants and retail units, Two new public squares, with traffic free landscaped areas, water features and public art and 800 car parking spaces.
There will also be a 20000 sq ft (1,858.1 m²) Birmingham Magistrates' Court
, with 24 court rooms in a purpose designed complex designed by Denton Corker Marshall
. The courts will cost £80 million and will be 15 storeys tall.
In January 2010, Braemar Estates (Residential) Ltd were appointed as property managers to Block I at Masshouse.
Block M (Hive)
Masshouse submitted plans for a second residential building named Block M in August 2006. Construction commenced in August 2007 and was due for completion in 2009 however, the collapse of development partner David McLean in 2008 caused the construction to be put on hold. In 2009 McLaren were appointed to take over from David McLean and construction recommenced and completed in 2011.. 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. The apartments went on sale in Spring 2011 under the name Hive, studio apartments start at £90,000 and one bedroom apartments start at £110,000. Although the apartments are on sale hard landscaping at the eastern side is incomplete and due to delays to the Magistrates Court project the western side remains as derelict land. 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.
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
, United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
which is under development with the construction of 13 new highrise blocks intended for public services, commerce
Commerce
While business refers to the value-creating activities of an organization for profit, commerce means the whole system of an economy that constitutes an environment for business. The system includes legal, economic, political, social, cultural, and technological systems that are in operation in any...
and residential purposes. When completed, the blocks will have a prominent position on the Eastside
Eastside, Birmingham
Eastside is a district of Birmingham City Centre, England currently undergoing a major redevelopment project. The overall cost when completed is expected to be £6–8 billion over a period of ten years which will result in the creation of 12,000 jobs. 8,000 jobs are expected to be created during the...
skyline.
History
The Masshouse area existed in the Victorian times as nothing else but Masshouse Lane. It was a small lane which was 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 MassMass
Mass can be defined as a quantitive measure of the resistance an object has to change in its velocity.In physics, mass commonly refers to any of the following three properties of matter, which have been shown experimentally to be equivalent:...
) there by a Franciscan
Franciscan
Most Franciscans are members of Roman Catholic religious orders founded by Saint Francis of Assisi. Besides Roman Catholic communities, there are also Old Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, ecumenical and Non-denominational Franciscan communities....
priest, Leo Randolph, in 1687, followed by a convent in March 1688. Both were burned down by a mob, instigated by the protestant Lord Delamere, in November 1688..
Showell's Dictionary of Birmingham (1885) describes the building and destruction of the "mass house":
- 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 March 23, in the above year, and on 16th August, 1688, the first stone of a Franciscan Convent was laid adjoining to the Church, which latter was consecrated Sept. 4. The Church was 95ft long by 33ft. wide, and towards the building of it and the Convent, James IIJames II of EnglandJames II & VII was King of England and King of Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII, from 6 February 1685. He was the last Catholic monarch to reign over the Kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland...
gave 125 "tuns of timber," which were sold for £180; Sir John Gage gave timber valued at £140; the Dowager Queen CatherineCatherine of BraganzaCatherine of Braganza was a Portuguese infanta and queen consort of England, Scotland and Ireland as the wife of King Charles II.She married the king in 1662...
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 fundations. 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.".
It was developed in the 1960s into an elevated 800 metres (2,625 ft) road intersection on the A4400 road
A4400 road
The A4400 was a main road in Birmingham, United Kingdom which previously formed a ring around the city centre. Junctions on the road were largely grade separated, with pedestrians kept physically separate from vehicular traffic and most junctions allowing vehicles staying on the road to pass over...
and was named Masshouse Circus. The area below it was cleared and used as a surface car park. The elevated roadways were made of concrete which created an appearance disliked by locals. Under the roads was a large car park with pedestrian subways. There were six subways:
- New Meeting
- Henns Walk
- James WattJames WattJames Watt, FRS, FRSE was a Scottish inventor and mechanical engineer whose improvements to the Newcomen steam engine were fundamental to the changes brought by the Industrial Revolution in both his native Great Britain and the rest of the world.While working as an instrument maker at the...
- Chapel Street
- Ryder
- Hospital
The ring road became known as the "concrete collar" and restricted the expansion of the city centre core beyond it into the east.
In March 2002, the roundabout was demolished to clear the land for development and this demolition was named the "breaking of the concrete collar". The work was carried out by Birse Civils
Birse Civils
Birse Civils is a civil engineering company based in North Yorkshire. It was formerly a separate civil engineering company simply known as Birse Group, but is now owned by Balfour Beatty.-History:The company was founded as the Birse Group in 1970...
and designed by Gifford & Partners
Gifford (company)
Gifford is part of the Ramboll Group, providing engineering consultancy, design, planning, project management and consulting services for buildings, infrastructure and the environment.- History :...
in a contract worth £24.2 million. The contractors sought to reuse the 20000 cubic metres (26,159 cu yd) of reinforced concrete that was removed during demolition. Over £9 million from the European Regional Development Fund
European Regional Development Fund
The European Regional Development Fund is a fund allocated by the European Union.-History:During the 1960s, the European Commission occasionally tried to establish a regional fund. Only Italy ever supported this, however, and nothing came of it. Britain made it an issue for their accession in...
was invested into the project.
A replacement road to connect the Bullring Shopping Centre with Jennens Road was completed and opened in August 2003. However, this has been closed due to a number of injuries to pedestrians. However, the land was left as a car park for a number of years as plans and designs for the development were created. Pieces of the 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 per piece.
Development
City Park Gate
City Park Gate is a major mixed use development by Countryside Properties in the Eastside area of Birmingham, England. Designed by MAKE Architects, Associated Architects and Buro Happold, City Park Gate is on a prominent site alongside Moor Street Queensway, Birmingham Moor Street Station and a...
, named after the new Eastside City Park
Eastside City Park
Eastside City Park is a proposed urban park in Birmingham, United Kingdom, projected to cover at least . The scheme is part of the Eastside regeneration programme, and is expected to be completed in 2013...
to be constructed next to it.
Phase 1 will stretch from the McLaren Building
The McLaren Building
The McLaren Building is a 69 metre, 21 storey tall office building in Birmingham 4, England. Designed by Philip Bonham Associates and built in 1972, it is a retro thin brown office building. Current tenants include , , Scott Wilson, URS Corporation, UNISON and Birmingham City Council's Eastside...
to the Park Street. The scheme is being developed by David McLean Developments and has been designed by Edward Cullinan architects. The entire scheme is expected to cost £350 million and provide 1100000 square feet (102,193.3 m²) of space.
The planning application for Block I was submitted in October 2004. Block I has been completed and the first residents moved into the building in December 2006. Construction of the 14-storey building cost £30 million and consists of 173 studio, one and two-bedroom apartments. Over 50% of the building's 173 apartments were sold in the first week of release. The building is clad in 6000 m² (64,583.5 sq ft) of pre-cast panels. They consist of a complex mixture of finishes with some containing 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 main cladding panels are either concave or convex with pointed ends and most will be pre-fitted with windows at the Techrete factory to accelerate the construction process.
In March 2007, an outline planning application was submitted to Birmingham City Council
Birmingham City Council
The Birmingham City Council is the body responsible for the governance of the City of Birmingham in England, which has been a metropolitan district since 1974. It is the most populated local authority in the United Kingdom with, following a reorganisation of boundaries in June 2004, 120 Birmingham...
by GVA Grimley
GVA GRIMLEY
GVA is one of the largest commercial property advisers in the UK. It provides multi-disciplinary commercial property advice and services to clients in the public and private sectors....
to build a mixed-use development of up to 70907 square metres (763,236.6 sq ft) (gross internal area) on Plot 7. The application consisted of four buildings for retail, office, hotel and residential use.
The entire scheme aims to create 500000 sq ft (46,451.5 m²) of Grade A office
Office
An office is generally a room or other area in which people work, but may also denote a position within an organization with specific duties attached to it ; the latter is in fact an earlier usage, office as place originally referring to the location of one's duty. When used as an adjective, the...
accommodation, 550 high specification apartments, Ground floor cafes, restaurants and retail units, Two new public squares, with traffic free landscaped areas, water features and public art and 800 car parking spaces.
There will also be a 20000 sq ft (1,858.1 m²) Birmingham Magistrates' Court
Birmingham Magistrates' Court
Birmingham's new Magistrates' Court is a proposed £80m court building in Birmingham, United Kingdom, currently in the design stage. It is located on the Masshouse redevelopment site, in the Eastside area of the city....
, with 24 court rooms in a purpose designed complex designed by Denton Corker Marshall
Denton Corker Marshall
Denton Corker Marshall is a major award-winning Australian architecture practice established in Melbourne in 1972. It was founded by architects John Denton, Bill Corker, and Barrie Marshall...
. The courts will cost £80 million and will be 15 storeys tall.
In January 2010, Braemar Estates (Residential) Ltd were appointed as property managers to Block I at Masshouse.
Block M (Hive)
Masshouse submitted plans for a second residential building named Block M in August 2006. Construction commenced in August 2007 and was due for completion in 2009 however, the collapse of development partner David McLean in 2008 caused the construction to be put on hold. In 2009 McLaren were appointed to take over from David McLean and construction recommenced and completed in 2011.. 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. The apartments went on sale in Spring 2011 under the name Hive, studio apartments start at £90,000 and one bedroom apartments start at £110,000. Although the apartments are on sale hard landscaping at the eastern side is incomplete and due to delays to the Magistrates Court project the western side remains as derelict land. 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.