Paradise, Birmingham
The site was redeveloped from 1960 to 1975 into the present Paradise Circus based within a roundabout on the Inner Ring Road system containing a new Central Library and School of Music.
In 2014, it was announced that the new development would be named as simply 'Paradise' to reflect the fact that the 'circus' element would disappear when Paradise Circus Queensway next to the Town Hall was pedestrianised.
[5] The early settlement of Birmingham was focused on the parish church of St Martin in the Bull Ring, approximately 8 m (26 ft) east of the present Paradise Circus.
The first Central Library opened in 1865 occupying a site south of Edmund Street and west of the Town Hall adjoining the BMI building to the north.
A masterplan by William Haywood in 1918 proposed to create a grand civic centre west of Easy Row and north of Broad Street.
Herbert Manzoni, who was appointed City Engineer and Surveyor in 1935, developed a plan for an Inner Ring Road between 1942 and 1952 and presented them in the publication Birmingham: 50 Years On.
Paradise Circus Queensway effectively formed a roundabout around the site running on what was Easy Row and Ratcliff Place to the west of the Town Hall.
Madin designed the Central Library as the centrepiece part of a large civic centre scheme on the newly created Paradise Circus site.
The space created from demolition allowed the School of Music and Fletcher's Walk shopping arcade to be built south of the library.
Originally planned to be built alongside the library was a School of Music, Drama Centre, Athletic Institute, offices, shops, public house, a car park with 500 spaces and a bus interchange.
Spending cuts led to the council's decision to sell off the land surrounding the library, ending the vision of a publicly financed and owned civic centre occupying the entire site.
The space below was named Paradise Forum, originally proposed as an alfresco eating and entertainment area but eventually leased to property companies who sublet the units to shops and fast food outlet tenants such as McDonald's, J D Wetherspoon, Greggs and Nando's.
In order to demolish the School of Music, an agreement, made in December 2013, provided for a £29 million payment to Birmingham City University.
The development will provide up to 10 new buildings with about 170,000 square metres (1,800,000 sq ft) space for stores, offices, recreation, societal and cultural amenities.
[12] Advertising materials promise that, "Paradise is to be transformed into a vibrant mixed use development of commercial, civic, retail, leisure and hotel space, providing major improvements to pedestrian access and greatly enhanced public realm befitting this exemplary historic setting.
The Phase I enabling and infrastructure works are funded through the approved £61 million investment by the Greater Birmingham and Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership.
[3][17][18] PricewaterhouseCoopers announced in March 2016 that they had agreed to take office space on the top 4.5 floors of One Chamberlain Square on a 20-year lease, moving in early 2019.
[24] In March 2018, Birmingham City Council's planning committee granted permission for One Centenary Way to be constructed on the site of the old Adrian Boult Hall conservatoire.
Designed by Glenn Howells Architects, the 280,000 sq ft (26,000 m2) office building is 13 storeys tall, with space for shops and restaurants at street level.
