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Overview
An ambitious transformation of Birmingham’s retail core into a thriving mixed-use district where homes, workplaces, culture, and green streets create a dynamic new city centre destination.
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Opportunity
Changing patterns of city-centre life and the arrival of HS2 create an opportunity to rethink Birmingham’s historic retail core for a new generation.
Birmingham’s centre is evolving as people spend less time in traditional retail environments and expect more from the places around them. At the same time, HS2 Curzon Street Station will create a major new arrival point on the eastern edge of the city core. Birmingham Central Heart brings these shifts together, creating a framework to turn underused retail and office sites into a mixed-use neighbourhood. The ambition is to reconnect the Bullring, Cathedral Square, and Birmingham’s business districts with HS2 through a greener and more welcoming city centre.
More about this topic
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Why This Matters
01
Rebalancing the City Centre
Introducing more people who live and work in the city centre can bring activity back to areas currently dominated by ageing or underused commercial space.
02
Making HS2 Matter Locally
Birmingham Central Heart extends the impact of Curzon Street beyond the station itself, using new connections to draw investment and activity deeper into the existing city.
03
Creating a Greener Core
New landscape-led routes can transform how people move through central Birmingham while bringing substantially more greenery into some of its busiest streets.
Birmingham Central Heart represents a compelling long-term investment opportunity for the city: a clear strategic vision, strong public-private collaboration and a prime city-centre location, unlocking significant economic growth and inward investment.
Solution
Eight development sites are brought together by a shared urban framework that puts greener streets and stronger connections at the heart of regeneration.
Rather than treating each site in isolation, the vision establishes a common framework for growth across Central Heart. Two major green routes stitch together existing destinations and future development, supported by smaller squares and traffic-free spaces. Lost connections are restored, including historic Martineau Street, while listed buildings are retained within a changing urban fabric. Around this network, new homes and commercial space will bring a broader mix of activity into the retail core, helping it becomes a neighbourhood that remains active well beyond traditional shopping hours.
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5,000
Potential New Homes
7+ hectares
New Public Space
8,000
Potential Jobs
From brief to build: Gensler worked across public and private-sector partnerships to turn separate development opportunities into a shared vision for Birmingham’s city centre.
The process began by looking beyond individual sites to understand the connections Birmingham Central Heart needed to make across the city. Movement, green space, and existing destinations were mapped against the arrival of HS2 and the ambitions of different landowners. Gensler then developed an urban framework that could give those projects a common direction without prescribing a single architectural solution. Working with Birmingham City Council, Sphere Group, and development partners, the team translated that strategy into diagrams, illustrations, and CGIs that communicate both the scale of change and its potential experience.
Impact
Birmingham Central Heart creates a framework for growth that can bring more people, investment, and green space into Birmingham while reconnecting its city centre.
The vision gives landowners and the city a common direction for development, helping individual projects contribute to a more connected and liveable Birmingham.
What Changed Because of This
01
More City-Centre Living
Up to 5,000 new homes would bring a substantially larger residential population into the retail core, helping sustain activity throughout the day and evening.
02
A Greener City Heart
More than seven hectares of new public space would create a greener network through the centre, with the ambition to double existing green space.
03
Confidence to Invest
A shared framework gives public bodies and landowners greater clarity around the city’s direction, helping coordinated investment contribute to Birmingham’s longer-term economic growth.
Birmingham has the scale, ambition and momentum to compete on a global stage, and Central Heart provides investors with the clarity and confidence to support the next chapter of the city’s growth.
Recognition
Birmingham Live
CoStar
Insider Media Midlands
Team
Project Leadership
FAQ
Where is Birmingham Central Heart?
What could Birmingham Central Heart deliver?
How will Central Heart make Birmingham greener?
How does Central Heart connect with HS2?
Does Gensler design all eight development sites?
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