COUNCILLORS in Birmingham have today backed plans for a brand new thirteen-storey office building in the city.

The new office block at 2 Cornwall Street will sit on the corner of Livery Street, close to the city’s Snow Hill railway station, and offer 200,000 sq ft of Grade A office space.

A meeting of the council’s Planning Committee gave outline planning permission for the scheme today with detailed plans to be decided upon later.

An existing office building at the location called Peat House, which was only built in the late 1980s and rises to nine-storeys, will be torn down in order for the development to go ahead.

The Birmingham Post reports that Councillor Barry Henley, who chairs the council’s Conservation and Heritage Panel, said the existing “building is so ugly no one wants to refurbish it.” Another councillor likened it to a “giant radiator.”

Architects Associated Architects say in their documents supporting the new office building, submitted on behalf of developer West Register, that “careful consideration has been given to the character and appearance of the surrounding area, the scale of existing buildings in the vicinity, views into and out of the area and the planning policy framework.”

Peat House: “So ugly no one wants to refurbish it”

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