Creating a Canalside Community at Port Loop, Birmingham

The project will redevelop and remediate 43 acres of land which will deliver 1,150 homes, a new leisure, sports and swimming centre, commercial and retail facilities, and supporting infrastructure. 

The development partners have a clear vision for the area and have consulted widely on the design to create a clear sense of identity and place which will make the most of the extensive canal network and links to central Birmingham.

Homeowners will be offered a choice of modular or traditionally constructed two or three storey dwellings and apartments, a first for Birmingham. The delivery partnership and our client group is made up of Places for People, Urban Splash, Birmingham City Council and Canals and River Trust.

We’re currently supporting the delivery of Phase 4 – 331 build-to-rent apartments, 2.1 acres of public park and a new canal bridge and towpath. 

As the first apartment-led phase, this is the anchor stage of the wider Port Loop development and integrates ‘Sky Gardens’ to create semi-external spaces with the circulation cores.

This required re-planning of the previous masterplan to provide for current demand and buyer expectations which our team managed via a Section 73 application.

Challenge

The delivery partners are a purpose-formed partnership representing landowners and developers with a clear goal of ensuring a collaborative and prudent approach to this important gateway to Birmingham City Centre which has been described as a ‘game changer’ for the city.

We are working closely with all stakeholders to ensure clear communication and the phased delivery of infrastructure, remediation and modular and traditional housing meets business plan and cashflow management expectations.

Solution

To deliver the aims we determined a number of parallel workstreams in:

• Supporting the securing of the new masterplan to reflect the modular and traditional mix
• Supporting new reserved matters applications for each phase
• Optioneering of canal wall and remediation approaches to determine ‘best value’
• Phased procurement and delivery of:
  • Drains, roads and services infrastructure
  • Remediation and canal wall replacement
  • New public open spaces
  • Early mains services infrastructure
  • Single stage tendering of the main construction works to deliver housing

We provided the following solutions:

• Overall costs and cashflow reporting at monthly intervals and approval of consultant and contractor applications
• Cost planning and budgeting
• Value and optioneering management
• Management of all professional team appointments
• Management of contractor selection, appointment and delivery
• Monthly reporting to partners