Booming Birmingham market leads to new office for Corstorphine + Wright

(l-r): Directors Rav Kumar and Simon Jones in the firm’s new offices at Alpha Tower.

Leading national architectural practice, Corstorphine + Wright, is expanding its presence in Birmingham after a number of high profile project wins in the city.

The practice, which has offices in 10 cities across the UK, has relocated its Birmingham team from its former premises in the Jewellery Quarter to Alpha Works in the city centre’s landmark Alpha Tower.

The move follows a steady increase in the number of active projects within the city, with Corstorphine + Wright currently appointed on 24 schemes across the commercial, residential and education sectors including the high-profile Dandara and Holloway Head residential schemes, along with commercial offices projects 10 Temple Street and 75 Colmore Row.

The move to the new office in Alpha Works supports the growth of the company’s team with 10 new full time staff members in the region.

Rav Kumar, Director at the Birmingham office of Corstorphine + Wright, said: “Since opening the studio in the Jewellery Quarter at the end of 2015, we’ve seen a significant number of new instructions for a range of new projects at locations across the city.

“Within the wider Midlands region, we have somewhere around 90 staff, who continue to support each other across all sectors.  The practice has a high proportion of technical specialists, so we’re not only delivering projects at conceptual stages but right through to technical design and construction.”

Simon Jones, Director at Corstorphine + Wright, continued: “The residential market is particularly active at the moment and we’re working on a number of high-rise developments totalling around 6,000 apartments under design at 26 schemes in various stages of delivery. We’re also seeing increasing demand for student accommodation, with a total of around 1,000 student beds under development in the city.

“Birmingham is a city full of energy and opportunity, with a lot of positive sentiment being driven by the promised delivery of HS2 in Eastside and inward investment from huge companies like HSBC.  With the creation of the West Midlands Combined Authority, it feels like everything is starting to slot into place.”

Nationally, Corstorphine + Wright has seen an impressive 30% growth over the last year, with 35 new recruits employed across its UK offices, together with the launch of new offices in Glasgow and Leeds. After rising 16 places to 56 in the AJ100, a list of the country’s top architectural firms, the business was shortlisted by Architect’s Journal for its fastest growing practice award.

A leading national architectural practice with offices in Warwick, Birmingham, London, Manchester, Leeds Dublin, Canterbury, Glasgow, Corstorphine + Wright marries over 35 years of professional experience with cutting edge technologies to produce design solutions that enhance the built environment, transform cities and unite communities.

Corstorphine +Wright aims to achieve outstanding commercial success for their clients which include national property PLCs, leading developers, and property and pension funds.