10 Holloway Circus
| 10 Holloway Circus | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Former names | Beetham Tower |
| General information | |
| Type | Hotel & Residential |
| Architectural style | Postmodern |
| Location | Holloway Circus, Birmingham, England |
| Coordinates | 52°28′31.46″N 1°54′0.59″W / 52.4754056°N 1.9001639°WCoordinates: 52°28′31.46″N 1°54′0.59″W / 52.4754056°N 1.9001639°W |
| Current tenants | Radisson SAS |
| Construction started | March 2003 |
| Completed | May 2006 |
| Cost | 35.94 million Pound sterling |
| Client | Beetham Organization |
| Height | 427 feet (130 m) |
| Technical details | |
| Floor count | 39 |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect | Ian Simpson |
| Structural engineer | WSP Cantor Seinuk |
| Services engineer | Buro Happold |
| Main contractor | Laing O'Rourke Midlands |
10 Holloway Circus (also referred to as the Holloway Circus Tower or Beetham Tower) is a 427-foot (130 m) tall mixed-use skyscraper in Birmingham city centre, England. It is named after the developers, Beetham Organisation, and was designed by Ian Simpson and built by Laing O'Rourke. The entire development covers an area of 7,000 square feet (650 m2). It is the tallest occupied building in Birmingham and the 23rd tallest building in the United Kingdom.
It has 39 floors, and is the second tallest structure in the city after the 499 ft (152 m) British Telecom Tower.
The front façade of the building is floor-to-ceiling glass decorated in "tiger stripes" which are used to enhance the vertical impact. As the apartments were being furbished, an aqua coloured camouflage was also added to these windows with some of the tiger stripes being removed. Coloured lights can be seen underneath the overhang at night.
The lower 19-floors are a Radisson Blu hotel, which opened to guests on 16 January 2006 whilst the upper floors were still being furnished. The upper 20 floors contain 158 apartments.
There are eight circular concrete columns as well as the core on each floor. The post-tensioned flat plates of the upper floors are concrete and measure 9 in (225 mm) in thickness.
10 Holloway Circus received 12 points in the 2006 Emporis Skyscraper Awards placing it in eighth position in the top ten.
The plans for the development were first revealed in 1998 as part of a competition in which designs for a tower acting as a gateway to the city centre were to be submitted to the council and also for a building that could aid the regeneration plans in and around the area. The site chosen was the AEU Building, designed by The John Madin Design Group and completed in 1957, at Holloway Circus. Two serious proposals were put forward, one by CALA Homes, which consisted of two cylindrical glass towers, and the other by the Beetham Corporation, which was a single 44-storey tower with two spires on the roof producing a total height of 630 feet (192 m). The Beetham Corporation won, however it was forced to scale down the towers height, due to height limits enforced after the September 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, by the Civil Aviation Authority. The spires were also removed and replaced by two cones placed on the rear of the tower on top of the stairwells. The overhang at the front was added. The proposed office space was also removed and the planning application was withdrawn.
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