Evolving expectations for city living - The Mercian

The changing face of Birmingham

Over the last few years, the dynamic of Birmingham’s city centre residential schemes has changed drastically. Increasing demands from occupiers, scarcity of development space and the rise of the Private Rented Sector (PRS) are creating both new opportunities and challenges for developers.

One thing is clear – it’s no longer enough to provide high-specification living space alone.

Communal facilities and amenities may have been a luxury five years ago, but today they are considered by occupiers as part of the essential fabric of any new development.

This is indicative of the ever-growing inner-city residential development scene in Birmingham, and especially at The Mercian, where we are working alongside Moda Living as Project Manager to create one of the city’s tallest residential buildings.

City in the sky

The 481-apartment PRS scheme is one of the key centrepieces of the substantial regeneration of the city’s Westside. Once complete it will stand 42 storeys tall occupying a prime location at the heart of the city centre and conveniently right on the line of the new Midlands Metro Extension.

While its location and architecture are excellent reasons to move to the development, the real selling point for residents at The Mercian lies in its communal facilities.

We worked alongside Moda throughout the planning process to ensure the design of the development included a range of social amenities to encourage a sense of community and make best use of the limited development space available. Faced with the complex Planning hurdles that constructing one of the city’s tallest buildings produces, we maintained a modern approach by responding to Moda’s evolving brand and integrating these changes into the design.

This ‘city in the sky’ approach utilises the impressive height of the building to provide amenities throughout its structure, including a UK first – a 200m rooftop running track on the third-floor terrace.

Push the limits

When the first residents move in, they will have access to a private gym and fitness studio, complete with on-site personal trainer and scheduled classes. A roof terrace, BBQ area and a residents’ lounge have also been created within the building, allowing for a space beyond your apartment to relax with friends and the perfect spot to unwind and enjoy Birmingham’s increasingly vivid skyline.

It has been an opportunity for us to really push the limits of what is possible, contributing creative flair into the scheme’s design and revolutionising city living. While it certainly poses different challenges and obstacles it’s exciting to work on what could be a trailblazing development within Birmingham.

Birmingham is increasingly looking towards creating more tall residential towers with several additional schemes either being constructed now or becoming part of a burgeoning development pipeline; and with residential development booming these new ways of living could be key to propel the city into the truly global destination it wants to become.