Birmingham Markets Park
A modern park shaped by Birmingham's past
Our original plan for the park, developed in partnership with Peter Culley from Spatial Affairs Bureau, delivered not only a new signature park for Birmingham that was 50% bigger than the Bullring footprint but also space for housing, markets and cultural attractions. Birmingham's proud market and trading history was acknowledged, with the template of the former horticultural markets used for the central park area and some existing buildings repurposed. In this way, ours was not only a more cost and energy efficient plan, but also one that does not erase Birmingham's history. A medieval moat existing for hundreds of years on the site was reintroduced as part of a water management scheme that feeds the River Rea and a car park from the 20th Century was transformed into an Art Park.
After being unable to convince the council and its partner Lendlease of the merits of this scheme, in 2024 we suggested an alternative indicative design, with the park again centrally located and occupying approximately 25% of the site but now with the wider site accommodating several of the building footprints being proposed by the developer.
