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PRIVACY
Economic Development

Green light for Jewellery Quarter college project

City planners back bid to convert empty Standard Works building into centre for young people with special educational needs

The Standard Works building in the Jewellery Quarter which has received the green light to be converted into a college

A former Victorian factory which has lain empty for almost two decades is to be brought back to life as a college.

City planners have given the green light to the project to convert the 135-year-old Standard Works, in the Jewellery Quarter, into a specialist further education college for 16 to 25 year olds with a range of emotional and learning difficulties.

The permission comes two and a half years after by Shrewsbury-based OE Developments to convert the Vittoria Street building into new homes and a restaurant, creating 40 jobs.

At the time, the council said the plan did not fit in with its conservation policy to "retain the industrial use of manufacturing premises" in the area.

Stourbridge-based Glasshouse College, which is owned by the Ruskin Mill Trust in Gloucestershire, is behind the project and has been working with Birmingham Conservation Trust on community engagement and consultation.

Artist's impression of the new cafe in the Standard Works building in the Jewellery Quarter

 

The trust specialises in developing educational and cultural centres out of heritage buildings by transforming them into centres for young people with learning difficulties and disabilities.

The new development will be able to teach up to 90 students and also contain a café with its own bakery (CGI above), a rooftop garden selling local produce, commercial zone for young jewellers and visitor space detailing the history of the Jewellery Quarter.

Janine Christley, director of fundraising with the Ruskin Mill Trust, said: "We have been keen to open a new college in Birmingham for some time and are delighted with the warm response we have received from everyone in the Jewellery Quarter.