Nestled in the heart of Birmingham’s Southside district, South Central by Glancy Nicholls Architects stands as a bold testament to contemporary urban design. Completed in 2024, this residential development with street level commercial units has quickly become a defining feature of the city’s evolving skyline, blending modern aesthetics with contextual sensitivity. An understated terracotta landmark that captures attention from the southern portal of the city’s long Queensway tunnel.
11 November 2025
Adam McPartland, Managing Director, Glancy Nicholls Architects
Birmingham is definitely growing up. Or upwards. The city’s bold Big City Plan of 2010 advocated high rise developments. Taking advantage of the Birmingham plateau and pertinently pressure on the area for development land a series of high rise developments have come to fruition in the years since.
The skyline, once articulated by the Rotunda and BT Tower, is now dotted with 100 meter+ structures. The Octagon, 103 Colmore Row, One Eastside all vie for attention with new towers emerging to the south as the city continues to rise.
Whilst South Central is not quite at the 100 meter level it seems to be playing a different game. Not for South Central the one upmanship race, it is playing a different game which is based on the architectural traditions of the city and the a classy nod to its complicated surroundings.
An understanding of the city’s on off love affair with terracotta is important. “Materiality was key” says Adam McPartland, Director of Glancy Nicholls Architects and Design Lead for South Central. “We wanted to take from and celebrate the city’s architectural traditions. The city has a real quality and legacy of terracotta buildings but contemporary examples are rare.”
This was perhaps music to the ears of the City’s Planners who have promoted the vernacular traditions of Birmingham in recent years. McPartland argues it also goes a little against the grain of Birmingham’s post-war architectural impulse for every new building to shout louder than the last.
“Terracotta is quite a humble material in some ways. But it’s a material that we’ve been using for centuries. It’s easy to work with and actually creates a sophisticated and elegant statement in its own polite way. It sits a building neatly within its landscape and in the context of Birmingham is about a city re-discovering its heritage.”
“The challenge for us was a pleasing one really. The City Council were concerned about quality. Could (the terracotta) deliver the quality, robustness and performance that modern buildings need? Aesthetically they were sold but the building has to deliver. On acoustics for example. This is a bustling part of town. On that question alone there have been no complaints. The terracotta has worked well for the building’s occupants.”
The textural panels, which are Agrob Buchtal’s K20 Keratwin system, are punctuated by bronze metal bands. Another nod to the city’s heritage. The redness of the tiles adding an authenticity to the city’s traditions that give the building a sense of always having been there.
For McPartland the opening of the building is a source of personal pride. “It’s always nice to glimpse the building from different parts of the city. To get views that are sometimes unexpected. There was a purity in the design process that we were able to stick to. The end result…I think….is a high quality building that doesn’t need to shout to make itself heard.”
“Terracotta is quite a humble material in some ways. But it’s a material that we’ve been using for centuries. It’s easy to work with and actually creates a sophisticated and elegant statement in its own polite way. It sits a building neatly within its landscape and in the context of Birmingham is about a city re-discovering its heritage.”
