U.K.’s 2 Snowhill Plaza Project Approved

Birmingham, U.K., City Council has given the green light for a 48-story residential tower block designed by Metropolitan Workshop, Building Design reports. The build-to-rent project, 2 Snowhill Plaza, is the London and Dublin-based practice’s first in the city, and it will replace a low-rise run of disused commercial units on Snow Hill Queensway. Designed for developer Hub, the project received seven votes in favor and six votes against at a recent meeting of the city council’s Planning Committee. Those against cited the height and the project’s impact on the city’s two cathedrals and other heritage buildings. Recommending the proposals for approval, city planning officers said Metropolitan Workshop’s design was an acceptable option for a “difficult” site in an area where tall buildings are “common and generally supported.” The report noted the objections but said the public benefits of the scheme outweighed the “less than substantial harm” caused to the setting of St Philip’s Cathedral.