Rockspring, alongside development partner Sterling Property Ventures, has received planning permission to build the tallest office tower in Birmingham. The development will be located at 103 Colmore Row in the city.

Birmingham City Council approved plans to demolish a 22-storey, 1970s-built NatWest Tower, which has been unoccupied since 2003, and replace it with a new £60m 26-storey building.

At 346 feet high and the apex standing at 246 metres above sea level, the new tower will be the tallest office building under construction in the UK outside London. Designed by Doone Silver Architects, it will comprise 200,000 sq ft of Grade A office space over 19 floors with floorplates of up to 12,000 sq ft.

At street level, plans include a winter garden, a café facing Colmore Row and a retail unit fronting Newhall Street. There is also provision for a 8,600 sq ft restaurant at the top of the building, with a 3,250 sq ft 'lantern' space, offering 360-degree views of the city.

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Demolition contractors H Smith (Engineers) Ltd have been on site since mid-July, stripping out the building's interior. Scaffolding is now being erected to allow for the floor-by-floor dismantling of the concrete tower, which will take around 12 months to complete. The two-storey former banking hall fronting Colmore Row is scheduled to be removed by November this year.

Work on erecting the new tower will begin in summer 2016, creating 500 construction jobs. The project is due for completion by summer 2018.

Eric Linden, European Director at Rockspring, said: "Rockspring is pleased to be playing such a significant role in the improvement of this prime area of Birmingham, a city we view as a strengthening target for regional investment in the UK and where there is significant demand for quality, modern office space."

Peter Graham, construction director at Sterling, added: "We're very pleased that Birmingham City Council has acknowledged our unwavering commitment to this project and this great city. It means we can now move this project off the drawing board and on to site, replacing an outdated, inefficient building with a modern, landmark office development that Birmingham can be proud of."

(LM/JP)