Plans for the first two office buildings at the £500 million in Birmingham city centre have been unveiled.
Applications for One Chamberlain Square, which will replace Central Library, and Two Chamberlain Square opposite have been lodged with Birmingham City Council as well as a third submission for public realm work.
The news follows swiftly as motorists continue to negotiate the
London-based practice Eric Parry Architects has designed One Chamberlain Square which will have 172,000 sq ft of grade A office space over seven storeys, with a curved façade and roof terrace on the sixth floor.
There will also be a restaurant or leisure uses on the ground floor and frontage onto Centenary Way, Congreve Street and
The second building will be called Two Chamberlain Square and sit directly opposite.
Designed by renowned Birmingham practice Glenn Howells Architects, the seven-storey building will have 182,000 sq ft of grade A office space and a roof terrace.
It will have a five-storey portico fronting onto Chamberlain Square, which designers said reflected a contemporary interpretation of the historic setting of the building, and then step back from the sixth floor with the roof terrace.
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The office entrance is located directly onto Chamberlain Square with the ground and upper ground levels offering space for active leisure and retail uses.
A third application has also been lodged by Bath-based landscape architecture firm Grant Associates which includes a new, wide pedestrian street through the centre of the development, linking the upgraded Chamberlain Square to Centenary Square.
Subject to planning approval, construction of the two speculative buildings is scheduled to start in the autumn with One Chamberlain Square due to be completed in late 2018 and Two Chamberlain Square in early 2019.
The enhancements to Chamberlain Square will also be implemented during this period.
Earlier stages of the Paradise development currently under way include the demolition of John Madin's Central Library, due to be completed this year, and the re-drawing of the traffic flow around Paradise Circus island, set for completion next summer.
Rob Groves, senior projects director from Paradise development manager Argent, said: "These submissions are an important milestone for the Paradise redevelopment.
"We have been working together with the design teams, stakeholders and the planners to ensure the modern architectural language for the buildings complements the sensitive heritage setting and Chamberlain Square itself, creating great public realm and public space whilst also providing the very best office space.
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"We believe our proposals will deliver two exceptional buildings in a remarkable setting to set the scene for the transformation of the heart of the city."
The project is a joint venture between Birmingham City Council and the British Telecom Pension Scheme, managed by Hermes Real Estate Investment Management.
Paradise is expected to be completed in 2026 and will eventually comprise 1.8 million sq ft of offices, shops, cafés, restaurants and a hotel in up to ten buildings, all set within public realm.