Orion Building

Orion Building
The Orion Building, Birmingham City Centre
General information
Type	Residential and retail
Location	Birmingham, England
Coordinates	52°28′38.95″N 1°54′8.47″W / 52.4774861°N 1.9023528°W / 52.4774861; -1.9023528Coordinates: 52°28′38.95″N 1°54′8.47″W / 52.4774861°N 1.9023528°W / 52.4774861; -1.9023528
Construction started	2004
Completed	2006
Height	90 metres (295 ft)
Technical details
Floor count	28
Design and construction
Architect	BBLB Architects
Other designers	John Rocha

The Orion Building is a 90-metre (295 ft) tall high rise residential building on Navigation Street, Birmingham 5, England. Construction of the tower began in 2004 with demolition of the previous building on the site, and was completed in 2007. As part of the development, the original façades of some of the previous buildings have been retained and incorporated into the lowrise sections of the complex. The complex consists of a 28 storey tower with five basement floors. It includes the city's first penthouse which was sold for £1.65 million. The fourth and final phase of the building, being marketed as 'Sirius', is nearing completion.

The first planning application for the Orion Building was submitted on 3 December 2001 to Birmingham City Council. It was approved on 25 April 2002. Soon after gaining planning permission, the scheme encountered problems. The original contractor, Carillion, fell out with Crosby Homes and construction on the site stopped. Carillion quit their involvement on the scheme and Taylor Woodrow took over with construction recommencing soon after. Before construction of phases 1 and 2 commenced, all of the 150 apartments had been sold. The next planning application was submitted on 10 October 2002 for the second phase of the scheme. It was approved on July 8, 2003. Another planning application was submitted for the reuse of 93-97 John Bright Street, a listed building, as apartments and retail. It was submitted on 25 June 2004 and was approved on 2 October 2005. On 5 October 2004 Crosby Homes submitted a planning application to add another four floors to the tower and another storey to the block adjacent to it. Alterations were also made to the layouts of the apartments between floors 10 and 19 to provide a further 29 flats. The planning application was approved on 16 December 2004. The building was constructed in three phases with Phase 1 being the corner on Navigation Street and John Bright Street and the John Bright Street frontage. Phase 2 is a low rise element to the complex that fronts on to Navigation Street whilst Phase 3 is the main tower overlooking Suffolk Street Queensway.

The 200 apartments within the complex have been designed by John Rocha, the fashion designer, who claims it as a "fashion first". On the ground floor, there are four retail units, one of which is occupied by Sainsbury's Local.