Five Ways Tower is a 23-storey commercial building on a prime site located in the
Birmingham City Centre
Birmingham City Centre, also known as Central Birmingham and often known locally as town, is the central business district of Birmingham, England. Following the removal of the Inner Ring Road, the city centre is now defined as being the area wi ...
by the corner of Frederick Road and Islington Road, near to the
Five Ways roundabout and close to Five Ways Station, at the gateway to the
Edgbaston
Edgbaston () is an affluent suburban area of central Birmingham, England, historically in Warwickshire, and curved around the southwest of the city centre.
In the 19th century, the area was under the control of the Gough-Calthorpe family a ...
area of
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...
15,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
.
The building was completed in 1979.
Several hotels expressed interest in acquiring the building from its owners, since its solid concrete design could be converted into a business class hotel.
The building is vacant due to the last tenants evacuating the building due to ill health amongst the workforce. It was discovered that the building suffers from
Sick Building Syndrome, and being too expensive to refurbish to modern standards a likely option is demolition in line with the regeneration of the surrounding area.
The building has in excess of 100,000 sqft of existing net office space, six lifts, basement storage, and a double height floor at the top. The building has a carpark for approximately 200 cars allocated to the Tower.
The building's
architect
An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...
was
Philip Bright of the
Property Services Agency
The Property Services Agency (PSA) was an agency of the United Kingdom government, in existence from 1972 to 1993. Its role was to “provide, manage, maintain, and furnish the property used by the government, including defence establishments, offi ...
. Andy Foster described it as being similar to the work of
James Stirling.
See also
*
List of tallest buildings and structures in Birmingham
This list of the tallest buildings and structures in the Birmingham Metropolitan Area, West Midlands ranks buildings and free-standing structures by height, based on standard height measurements that include spires and architectural details b ...
References
External links
Emporis entrySkyscrapernews entry
1979 establishments in England
Skyscrapers in Birmingham, West Midlands
Skyscraper office buildings in England
Unused buildings in the United Kingdom
Commercial buildings completed in 1979
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