Green light for residential-led regeneration scheme at Icknield Port Loop, Birmingham

Birmingham City Council has approved plans for the first phase of a major residential regeneration scheme at Icknield Port Loop, Birmingham.

Working closely with Glenn Howells Architects, Maccreanor Lavington Architects and ShedKM, Grant Associates has created a detailed landscape masterplan that will see 207 family homes and 90 apartments built, along with green infrastructure including a new public park, public open spaces, communal gardens and canal-side public realm.

The scheme is the first phase of a proposal by Urban Splash and Places for People to develop a total of 1,150 homes on the 43-acre, city centre site. Located next to the Icknield Port Loop canal, the homes will be a mixture of family houses and apartments. Commercial, retail and leisure facilities will also be delivered.

Outline planning permission for the site was secured in 2013. Birmingham City Council and the Canal and River Trust appointed Places for People and Urban Splash as joint venture delivery partners for the project in 2016.

Claire Hobart, senior associate at Grant Associates, comments: “Our aim is to reinvigorate this piece of brownfield industrial land close to the heart of Birmingham that has to date been largely hidden from public view. We want to connect Icknield Port Loop’s new community with an inspiring series of new waterfront and green spaces. The landscape creates a sense of place that draws on the site’s unique island location and connections to the waterways of the city to add to Birmingham’s credentials as a great city to live, work and play.”