New office block for former newspaper site

A 14-storey office development is taking shape on the former Birmingham Post and Mail site in Snow Hill, Birmingham.

Colmore Plaza will offer 300,000ft² of office space, feature an impressive two-storey entrance foyer and a striking modular glazed facade.

Developer Abstract Land said the building is a first for Birmingham in terms of design, innovation and flexibility. Built using the very best materials throughout, the office block will provide sustainable high performance space, constructed to a City of London standard.

Steelwork contractor Robinson Construction has erected 750t of steel for the project and used Westok cellular beams for both the primary and secondary floor beams.

The cellular beams were designed using the SCI/Westok software Cellbeam V6, with its import/export link to CSC’s Building Designer. This allowed Robinson to determine the limiting temperature of the cellular beams, which helped to minimise the cost of the intumescent fire protection.

Typically, 630 x 178 x 152 asymmetric beams were used for the main 11.7m internal spans.

The building is due for completion in April 2008.