A look at how Brindleyplace developed from a post-industrial part of Birmingham and why it’s more important than ever to the city as we emerge into a post-Covid world. By Councillor Sir Albert Bore, former leader of Birmingham City Council and Ward Councillor for Ladywood.
In the 1980s, Birmingham was a city in need of new ideas and a new vision. We needed to tackle both chronic unemployment and the decline of our traditional manufacturing. The city lost 200,000 jobs in the first half of the decade – more than Scotland and Wales put together.
The NEC, which opened in 1976, and the opening of the ICC in 1991, pointed the way forward for us in two crucial ways – showing that the shift from a manufacturing to service economy could pay off, and that service-led infrastructure could help not just regenerate, but also reinvigorate an entire city centre.
This is a city whose motto is ‘forward’ and Birmingham has indeed never stopped moving forward. For those used to our contemporary architecture and plethora of service industries at home in the city centre, the city of thirty years ago would have felt a very different place.
In 1988 myself and a group of councillors, officers, business representatives and others from within and beyond Birmingham, met for what became known as the Highbury Initiative, held at the Chamberlain’s family home, Highbury, in Moseley. This symposium had one clear objective – to remodel and reprioritise the city centre for the people of the city. The strategies that came out of the initiative have helped shape the city centre ever since.
An important part of this was the idea of creating a city of quarters, or ‘quartiers’ in French, after the different parts of Paris. We already had the Jewellery Quarter, and the Convention Quarter came next. Linked to this was also the priority of breaking the ‘concrete collar’ of the inner ring road which created a very real physical barrier to pedestrians trying to navigate the city centre.
A city centre conference venue, to build upon the success of the NEC, was considered essential to bring overnight stays into the city centre. Such a complex would be a natural complement to the city’s successful place in the large scale, trade-based exhibition market, by bringing smaller, but potentially more lucrative business-based events, conferences and product launches right into the heart of the city.
The city’s pivotal moment in its economic fight back is often attributed to the opening of the ICC in 1991. The new convention facilities – which included the 2,200 capacity Symphony Hall – were truly world class. We had funded the £150 million cost to build the ICC entirely publicly, with the assistance of EU structural funds.
The council was united on this. All three main political parties bought into the idea of the convention centre, which partly helped in its subsequent good fortunes as the busiest conference venue in the country. The ICC transformed not just the conference offering in the UK – previously dominated by ageing seaside ballrooms in towns like Blackpool and Brighton – but also gave rise to an increase in demand in Birmingham for all sorts of service led activities: accommodation, hospitality, catering and retail.
Brindleyplace was designed as a key component of the new city centre, a place people would choose to spend time – and money – in. An area of previous nineteenth century wharfs and warehouses, the site had two big advantages – its location alongside the canal opposite the new ICC, and its proximity to a main route into the city centre that was to rapidly become the city’s leisure hub – Broad Street.
What we realised in the late 1980s and early 1990s was that Birmingham lacked the kind of modern office buildings and restaurants and bars which were already ubiquitous in London – Broadgate next to Liverpool Street station springs to mind, as well as Canary Wharf and More London. But we, as the city council, wanted to see new jobs as well as development. Major office relocations coming into an environment where those office occupiers could then grow was crucial.
In a city that had historically underperformed in terms of sustaining major visitor attractions, we were able to attract three new attractions at Brindleyplace that still remain today. The National Sea Life Centre, the Ikon Gallery and Crescent Theatre were just as important to us as moving 2,000 office workers from a different part of the country, or giving existing occupiers in the city a reason to stay. We wanted to see the jobs that came from the restaurants, bars and cafes and the people attracted to catch a play, have a day out with the kids, or enjoy the country’s only inland aquarium.
As soon as the project began to take shape in 1993, Brindleyplace was set on a path to fulfil aims of creating a thriving, high density, economically successful commercial scheme. It was the very first regional, mixed use development of any scale, not just in Britain, but also in Europe. Similar schemes had already helped what could be described as ‘regional’ cities in the US – places like Baltimore and Boston – but nothing on that scale had been done on this side of the Atlantic.
By pursuing a strategy of leveraging private sector investment, the city council could deliver more than working by itself. Brindleyplace was able to make the most of the conditions created by us in the public sector and as the long term landowner of the site. Its success has been attributed to several factors, including a high quality built environment, a close yet permeable relationship to the rest of the city around it, and a rare and true diversity of activities.
This strategic approach to renewal coincided with a reversal in city wide growth trends: while Birmingham as a whole saw a reduction in private sector jobs in 1998-2008, in the city centre there was a 27 per cent increase, 80 per cent of which were in knowledge rich businesses. Much is made of the so-called ripple effect of large developments in major cities, but in Brindleyplace we have a real example. Jobs have been created across the region, money has been spent in a deprived neighbourhood – my own council ward of Ladywood where we’ve recently seen a new leisure centre including a swimming pool, new housing and other facilities built – and talent attracted to live and work in the centre of Birmingham. As a catalyst, Brindleyplace has also showed the way for further, large scale developments across the city centre.
Brindleyplace became not just the city’s best office address, but the glue that connected together the National Indoor Arena, the canals, the ICC and Broad Street, with the rest of the city centre. The fact it has evolved too – with the addition of major residential developments nearby and the Westside tram extension – shows how districts and areas of cities can adapt and change with the times.
But now, as we prepare to move into a hopefully more vibrant post-Covid world, Birmingham is well placed to capitalise on recovery and renaissance and Brindleyplace will remain at the forefront of that recovery. Big cities sometimes take big economic hits, but they can also perform dramatic turnarounds. Brindleyplace will have its chance to once again play a positive role in the city’s fortunes.
We’ve learnt more than ever in the past year about the importance of the great outdoors and the vital role it has to play in our wellbeing. Brindleyplace is one of the few open, green and landscaped spaces in the city centre. It is also one of the safest. Recognising how people access the city, and how that has changed, is also important. Birmingham has invested millions into its public transport infrastructure, which increases accessibility and connectivity. Brindleyplace is also well positioned for a cycle ride in along the canals. The estate, in a prime location with a wide choice of access routes, will have that key role to play in tempting both workers and visitors back into the city centre.
Much has been written about the role of the office in the future. For our youngsters, just embarking on their careers, we have to remember the office has a key role to play in their life-long learning and development and for the future of all our cities. As workers return to Brindleyplace and other mixed use estates both in Birmingham and across the country, they are entering well managed, Covid-secure environments with carefully laid out facilities and plenty of open space.
I have no doubt the reasons Brindleyplace has been so successful for the past 25 years, and such an iconic part of Birmingham’s regeneration, will continue. The estate is just as important as ever in our current recovery.
