Plain English Version
Economic and cultural diversity – Birmingham’s city centre should have more and different types of buildings, cultural facilities (for example, art galleries, or theatres), public spaces, shops and services. Especially those that appeal to the young or minority ethnic groups.
Original Document
Economic and cultural diversity – Birmingham’s city centre should become more diverse for residents or visitor in its architecture, public realm, cultural facilities, heritage, retail offer, services, especially for young and minority ethnic groups.
Plain English Version
The Jewellery Quarter (for a larger version click on the map)
The Jewellery Quarter has many high quality buildings set in a very industrial area. It is protected by a conservation area and is a potential candidate as a World Heritage site.
Specialist jewellery makers, designers and shops still exist in the quarter. Now though they work alongside a growing entertainment, commercial and professional business sector in the area around St Paul’s Square, a neighbourhood we consider the centrepiece of the historic environment in the Jewellery Quarter.
This part of Birmingham wasn’t always about industry. The first buildings there were homes. These started to change as small businesses converting bedrooms into workshops. Buildings containing both houses and workshops are now rare, although one example is 27-32 Mary Street. Today the character of the area is shaped by purpose built factories and workshops from the 19th Century. Fringe central activities (sorry the previous phrase is tricky to translate) occupy land by Great Charles Street/Queensway. There are more modest offices and some residential developments next to St. Paul’s Square and the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal. The only open spaces are Key Hill Cemetery and the Church of England Cemetery on Warstone Lane.
You only need to look out from the Jewellery Quarter to see just how close it is to the core part of the the city centre. However getting there can be a problem. For example: Church Street traditionally linked St Paul’s Church to St Philips Cathedral but is now cut by the Queensway.
So this plan should find ways to make it easier for people to travel between the Jewellery Quarter and the core of the city centre. We may find that redevelopment of some major sites presents an opportunity to make it easier for people to walk. The Metro Line 1 runs through the Jewellery Quarter and provides a connection from Snow Hill to Wolverhampton whilst a railway line also runs through the quarter from Snow Hill to Stourbridge and Solihull.
We think the Jewellery Quarter is generally considered a success, but there are still many empty and under used buildings. Developers have been keen to build homes and buildings which are used as homes and offices on the less historic industrial fringe, but in the more traditional parts of the quarter there are tensions. Here the Council’s current policy stops developers buildings homes. It is a policy designed to protect the historic core as a place for factories, workshops and business. The Big City Plan should take another look at the planning policy for the quarter.
The Big City Plan will need to consider the opportunities for mixed use development within the Jewellery Quarter. There are already a number of proposals, including a new development around Carver Street, Camden Street and Pope Street and the future of sites on Great Charles Queensway are also being discussed. The existing Unitary Development Plan (you can find the whole document it through this link, the section on the Jewellery Quarter is here.) includes a proposal to create an urban village which will provide for a mixture of small businesses and new homes.
Original Document
The Jewellery Quarter has strong functional links with its past, retaining specialist jewellery manufacturing and designing as well as retailing. It also has a growing entertainment, commercial and professional business sector in the part nearer to the city centre around St Paul’s Square. It has many high quality buildings set in an uncompromisingly industrial street-scape, is protected by a conservation area and is a potential candidate as a World Heritage Site.
The centrepiece of the historic environment in the Jewellery Quarter is St Paul’s Square. The quarter is also home to Key Hill Cemetery and the Church of England Cemetery on Warstone Lane. These are the only areas of open space in the quarter.
The earliest buildings in the Jewellery Quarter were residential. Later demand for industrial uses led to the conversion of properties in a number of ways. Some of them continued to be lived in with little division between domestic and industrial accommodation. Buildings containing both houses and workshops are now rare. An example being 27-32 Mary Street. Today the area is characterised by purpose built manufactories and workshops from the 19th Century. Fringe central area activities occupy land fronting Great Charles Street / Queensway, and more domestic scale office and residential developments abut St. Paul’s Square and the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal.
The views of the city centre from the quarter accentuate its proximity to the core. An important connection to the core is Church Street which connects St Paul’s and St Philips. This is however severed by the Queensway. The Big City Plan should examine how the connections between the Jewellery Quarter and the Core can be improved and whether redevelopment of major sites presents an opportunity to improve pedestrian connections. Metro Line 1 runs through the Jewellery Quarter and provides connection from Snow Hill to Wolverhampton. A railway line also runs through the quarter from Snow Hill to Stourbridge and Solihull.
Although generally regarded as a success, there remain significant levels of under-use and vacancy in the area. The area has proved popular with residential / mixed use developers, with major redevelopment taking place in the less historic industrial fringe, but in the more traditional parts of the quarter there are potential tensions between residential growth and the retention of workshop accommodation. Indeed, at the moment, the Council’s existing policy restricts non-industrial activity within the heart of the Jewellery Quarter, particularly within the Golden Triangle and the Industrial Middle. In light of these factors, the Big City Plan should examine options for different planning policy approaches in the quarter.
The Big City Plan will need to consider the opportunities for mixed use development within the Jewellery Quarter. There are already a number of development proposals in the pipeline, including a new development around Carver Street, Camden Street and Pope Street, and there are discussions regarding the future of the sites on Great Charles Queensway. Furthermore, the existing UDP identifies opportunities for mixed use development – the urban village proposal encourages the provision of space for small businesses as well as new residential development.
Improved transport linkages between the Jewellery Quarter, the Core and the Convention Centre can provide further opportunity for a smoother transition from the quarter to the core.
Plain English Version
Jewellery Quarter: a growing creative quarter.
With this option we would focus on increasing the number and range of quality freehold workshops and offices for jewellery businesses, other creative industries and the ‘professions’. These would need to have parking. There would need to be larger sites, whether newly built or converted, which have a wider choice of unit sizes for businesses.
Where the existing historic buildings are hard to convert for modern businesses then it would be OK to turn them into homes.
Original Document
Jewellery Quarter: a growing creative quarter. The focus would be on expanding the number and range of quality freehold workshop and business premises with parking, suitable for jewellery businesses, professional offices and other creative industries. Larger development sites including new build and conversions would be developed for commercial uses with a range of unit sizes including such workshop/professional space. Where the existing historic buildings did not lend themselves easily to this approach, residential conversions would be acceptable.