18th Floor Roof Top Terrace

Location: 103 Colmore Row, Birmingham

Client: Squire & Partners

Architect: Squire & Partners

Size: 18th Floor Roof Top Terrace Area = 240sqm

Status: Ongoing

Colmore Row 103 is 230,084 sq ft of Grade A office space at the very centre of Birmingham’s Business District. The 18^th floor rooftop terrace is an outdoor space designed to be quite versatile, serving not only as a day-to-day breakout space with a difference, but as an enviable event space for the city.

Celebrating Birmingham’s industrial heritage of iron and steel manufacture, the coming of the railways and the canal networks we have extrapolated a very linear but dynamic design language. Straight lines, repetition, and rhythm together with robust materials such as granite, Corten and timber resonate to the industrial history of the city. This language allows us to design and organize the terrace in a holistic way, merging vertical and horizontal planes, breaking down the space from urban to a more human scale.

The roof terrace was designed for outdoor viewing and entertainment. We created a safe and comfortable space designed for maximum flexibility with environmental design principles of fluid dynamics and sun / shade analysis’s being the key driving factors that influenced the final design.

The strategic placement of all-weather canopies serves to preserve and frame key views across the city as well as dividing the terrace into virtual rooms for different groups and events. Environmental testing (sun, shade, wind) formed the basis for these placements, creating a safe and comfortable microclimate high above the city. A sense of calmness and wellbeing is supported by a variety of planting that aims to promote biodiversity and seasonal interest and colour.