462-home block would form part of Calthorpe Estates and Moda Living’s New Garden Square masterplan

Fuse Studios has submitted plans for a 37-storey build-to-rent tower on the edge of Birmingham city centre.

Its 462-home proposals for Calthorpe Estates and Moda Living would form part of the New Garden Square masterplan, which targets the delivery of up to 1,600 new homes on land previously occupied by office buildings on Hagley Road.

The site is opposite the new Edgbaston Village terminus of the Midland Metro tram network and a stone’s throw from the Broad Street entertainment area, where Glen Howells Architects completed the Mercian build-to-rent tower for Moda in 2022.

Howells – as the practice is now known – received planning permission for the original version of the New Garden Square masterplan in 2017. Glancy Nicholls was subsequently brought onto the project.

Fuse Studio’s plans for the latest phase feature a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom homes, a roof terrace, a 24-hour gym, co-working spaces and resident lounges, as well as commercial space at ground-floor level.

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Source: Fuse Studios

Fuse Studios’ proposals for landowner Calthorpe Estates and developer Moda Living

The project team said the tower’s “stepped bar” design was innovative and would provide a “striking and instantly recognisable local landmark” at the gateway site.

Calthorpe Estates’ masterplanning and development director Ralph Minott said the New Garden Square masterplan would deliver “green and active neighbourhoods for multi-generational living, health and well-being”.

As well as Fuse, Calthorpe Estates and Moda Living’s project team includes project manager RPS, planning consultant CBRE, quantity surveyor Gardiner & Theobald, civil and structural engineer Curtins, mechanical and electrical engineer Tate Consulting, and landscape architect Oobe.

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Source: Google Maps

A four-storey office building occupies the 0.5ha site earmarked for the tower