Latest Snowhill scheme nears topping out

The third of three steel-framed office blocks in Snowhill, Birmingham, and one of the UK’s largest speculative office developments to be constructed outside of London is rapidly taking shape.

Sat next to its sister buildings, One and Two Snowhill, Three Snowhill is a 19-storey office tower that forms a stunning gateway to the city’s business district, completing the final phase of Ballymore’s Snowhill Estate development.

Offering nearly 38,000m² of BREEAM ‘Excellent’ rated Grade A office floor space, together with retail and leisure units at podium and ground floor levels, Three Snowhill, like its sister buildings, has a composite design comprising a steel frame, with cellular beams supporting metal decking.

Working on behalf of main contractor BAM Construction, Severfield has fabricated, supplied and erected some 4,500t of steel for this project.

Almost square on plan, the building wraps around a large central atrium, which allows plenty of natural light to penetrate the building’s inner areas, as it is topped with a glazed roof.

This glazing also spans over the double-height upper floor, creating a large light-filled breakout space.

“Severfield’s design department have been key in developing solutions to issues such as the hung steelwork on the south east elevation, which had to be temporarily propped before it was fully suspended,” said BAM Senior Site Manager Charlotte Owen.

“The steelwork frame installation sequence has allowed us to maximise programme benefits for following trades. For example, the floorplates being split in to four areas allows us to concrete the floors in two halves and then start installing the curtain walling, while still ensuring exclusion zones are maintained for the steelwork erectors.

“By using steelwork, we have been able to monitor progress closely and forecast key milestone completion dates as the piece count is easy to measure on a weekly basis.”

Three Snowhill is due to complete by Spring 2019.