Cordia Blackswan has reached a milestone in its Great Hampton Street regeneration masterplan – with the practical completion of heritage commercial building refurbishment The Bank.
Located in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter, The Bank is an important project in Cordia Blackswan’s transformational vision for Great Hampton Street. The team has restored a Grade II listed former Lloyds TSB Bank building, offering seven high-quality commercial spaces for mixes uses, including office and retail.
Spread across four spacious floors, The Bank is set to become a thriving commercial hub with various unique spaces to suit different business needs.
As part of the quality restoration, Cordia Blackswan has improved The Bank’s EPC rating from D to B. This is all whilst retaining and repairing a large portion of the building’s original and lost features to the standing and quality of design prior to its 80s reconfiguration works, including the buff terracotta façade and large span sash windows, which contain Gothic, Renaissance and Dutch gable motifs.
With sustainability at the forefront of the design, the team has created four beautifully designed office spaces with plants and greenery found throughout. Cordia Blackswan recently moved its headquarters into the office space on floor one of The Bank, which is home to a reception area and ample open plan working and collaboration space. The overall design mixes contemporary design with traditional materials to create an exciting and inviting environment steeped in history, which demonstrates the true value of working with a heritage asset.
Cordia Blackswan has welcomed two new tenants to The Bank, with contractor Garvey Demolition taking residence on the mezzanine floor, and multi-disciplinary building design consultancy ONE Creative environments (ONE) setting up on the ground floor.
András Kárpáti, Deputy Chief Executive at Cordia Blackswan, said: “Reaching completion on The Bank signifies the start of Cordia Blackswan’s commercial offering and reinforces our overall vision for Great Hampton Street, by welcoming organisations with shared values.
“From the banking hall to the Cordia Blackswan office (HQ), each space within The Bank has been finished to the highest standard, with authentic features restored throughout – that’s what makes the building such a unique place to work. We look forward to welcoming Garvey Demolition and ONE to join our exciting community.”
Having worked closely with the team at Garvey Demolition on a number of projects, including the clearing of the neighbouring site of The Lamp Works – where 97% of the demolished assets were reused – Cordia Blackswan is looking forward to welcoming the contractor to their headquarters and continuing their strong professional relationship.
James Garvey, Managing Director at Garvey Demolition, said: “Over the past few years we have been focused on establishing our presence in Birmingham. The regeneration of the Jewellery Quarter has seen us actively involved with a host of developers on a wide variety of highly creative schemes. When looking to establish a central hub to support our ongoing expansion in Birmingham, and in view of our valued relationship with Cordia Blackswan, we didn’t hesitate when invited to take up space in the stunning conversion of the former Bank building.
“Cordia Blackswan has made a significant contribution to the redevelopment of the Jewellery Quarter; The Bank is a testimony of their ability to create not only amazing living space but excellent workspace as well. We are delighted to be in residence.”
ONE Creative environments is a multi-disciplinary building design business and Cordia Blackswan is excited to welcome the team to The Bank, who hold closely shared values and ethos.
James Lawrence, Director at ONE, added: “During the last decade we have delivered some fantastic projects in the city such as the Birmingham Dental Hospital and School of Dentistry – the RICS award winner for Design Through Innovation.
“Birmingham is key to our plans for further growth and we are thrilled to now be increasing our physical presence here within Cordia Blackswan’s UK HQ, The Bank. We look forward to working more closely with our clients on some really exciting, innovative and sustainable projects, welcoming them to our wonderful new office as well as continuing to grow our award-winning design team.”
There are two spaces remaining to let at The Bank – the banking hall and the second floor. The banking hall (1,150 sq ft) comes with an office space behind it (850 sq ft), and benefits from many period features including original windows and the iconic basement ‘bank vault’. The second-floor office includes a fitted kitchen, two large separated open-plan office spaces spread across 2,300 sq ft, and individual meeting rooms.
