Alpha Tower

Alpha Tower
Map
General information
TypeCommercial
Architectural styleModernism
LocationBirmingham, England
Coordinates52°28′43″N 1°54′23″W / 52.47861°N 1.90639°W / 52.47861; -1.90639
Construction started1969
Completed1973 (1973)
OwnerAnglo Scandinavian Estates Group
Height100 m (330 ft)
Technical details
Floor count28
Floor area
  • 196,105 sq ft (18,218.8 m2)
  • 7,076 sq ft (657.4 m2) (floor plate)
Design and construction
Architect(s)George Marsh
Architecture firmRichard Seifert & Partners
Awards and prizesGrade II listed, Grade A locally listed
Listed Building – Grade II
Designated31 July 2014
Reference no.1420049

Alpha Tower is a Grade II listed office skyscraper in Birmingham, England. It was designed by the Birmingham-born architect George Marsh[1] of Richard Seifert & Partners as the headquarters of the commercial television company ATV (Associated Television) and part of the company's production studio complex known as ATV Centre, an adjacent shorter tower was planned but was never built. ATV closed in 1982, after which the building became offices.

At 100 m (330 ft), as of 2023 it is the eighth-tallest building in Birmingham, and became the second-tallest office building in Birmingham after 103 Colmore Row (108 m (354 ft)) was topped out in 2020.

Building and architecture

It is a Grade A locally listed building. It was nominated for listed building status by the Twentieth Century Society in 2002, although the owners applied for a Certificate of Immunity from Listing. However, English Heritage added Alpha Tower to The National Heritage List for England on 31 July 2014.[2]

According to English Heritage:[1]

The building is one of the most aesthetically successful office buildings in Birmingham with a shaped outline and careful detailing giving it a dynamic forcefulness. Its design successfully combined several ideas into a powerful and elegant building which soon became, and has continued to be, one of the most popular landmarks of the rebuilding of Birmingham city centre in the mid 20th century.

Ownership

In the early 1990’s the building was owned by Ellerman Investments - in turn owned by the Barclay Brothers.

Arena Central Developments sold the building to Catalyst's European Property Fund in 2008 for £42.5 million. Birmingham City Council left tenancy in 2010 leaving the building 77% void. Nationwide Building Society put the building into receivership in 2012 and put it on the market for £10.25 million in 2013.[3]

The building was bought for £14 million in February 2014 by Anglo Scandinavian Estates Group who are set to invest £9 million in a refurbishment of the building.[4]

Occupancy

Birmingham City Council took a large tenancy of the building[when?] until they vacated in 2010.[citation needed]

The tower featured in the Cliff Richard film Take Me High (1973) for both exterior and interior shots.[citation needed]

References

  1. ^ a b Historic England. "Alpha Tower (1420049)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 4 April 2015.
  2. ^ "Alpha Tower handed listed status". Birmingham Post. Trinity Mirror Midlands. 15 August 2014. Retrieved 28 January 2015.
  3. ^ "Birmingham's Alpha Tower on sale for quarter of 2008 price". Birmingham Post. Trinity Mirror Midlands. 8 November 2013. Retrieved 8 November 2013.
  4. ^ "Alpha Tower set for investment after £14m sale". Birmingham Post. Trinity Mirror Midlands. 27 February 2014. Retrieved 4 March 2014.
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