Hammerson has submitted plans to repurpose a former John Lewis department store in Birmingham’s Grand Central shopping centre into “modern wellbeing-designed offices”.
The four-level, 200,000 sq ft space, which has stood empty for almost three years, would accommodate up to 2,000 people subject to planning consent and feature a new rooftop garden lounge together with green walls on each level.
Make Architects, the company founded by Ken Shuttleworth who helped design London’s ‘Gherkin’ building‚ has been brought in to draw up the plans, which include a ground-floor restaurant, bar and food market.
A premium grocery offer, gym, wellbeing amenities, flexible events space and facilities for cyclists are among the other proposed features.
If approved, refurbishment work will start later this year, with completion expected in 2025.
The site is situated above New Street Station in Birmingham.
Speaking about the space, which will be known as the Drum due to the silhouette of the building, Shuttleworth said: “We’ve been creatively considering how we rethink big-box retail within city centres to ensure we can enliven these key spaces and draw people back into the workplace by prioritising wellbeing and dynamism.
“We’ve applied this here, so the design for the Drum goes beyond a traditional workspace in every sense.”
Hammerson chief development and asset repositioning officer Harry Badham added: “Inspired by the 15-minute city concept, the Drum is also an original and highly important evolution of workplaces, built on the principles of connectivity, amenities, and sustainability.
“It will bring to Birmingham a new type of workspace that meets the requirements post-pandemic of established and start-up businesses, creating a new world-class environment at this key national interchange and gateway to the UK’s fastest-growing city.”
In 2015, John Lewis described the flagship Birmingham branch as a “step-change” for the partnership but the store closed in March 2020 on the first day of lockdown.
Later that summer, John Lewis confirmed it would not reopen.
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