Birmingham knowledge quarter welcomes Woodbourne Group
The property and investment company behind £360 million plans for the world’s first mixed-use, net zero carbon ready development in Birmingham has thrown its weight behind the growth of the city’s technology and innovation quarter.
Woodbourne Group has joined the Birmingham Knowledge Quarter to reflect its commitment to the area where it plans to build three towers on a brownfield site as part of its Curzon Wharf development.
A waterfront ecosystem, it will be a short walk from the new HS2 Curzon Street Station, offering sweeping views of the city and beyond. The masterplan development of almost one million square feet is expected to boost the Birmingham economy by at least £151 million and create over 1,000 jobs.
The hybrid plans have been designed after five years of consultation with Birmingham City Council and a world-class team of regeneration and built-environment specialists.
The Birmingham-Knowledge Quarter (B-KQ) is constituted as an affiliation of knowledge-driven organisations that wish to collaborate around a joint vision for the B-KQ as a collective prospect. Current members include HS2, Birmingham City University, Aston University and Bruntwood.
Tani Dulay, chief executive of Birmingham-based Woodbourne Group, said: “The Birmingham Knowledge Quarter is a vital fusion of learning, innovation, entrepreneurialism, experimentation and urban cultural expression.
“I am therefore very pleased to announce that Woodbourne Group has joined the B-KQ and I look forward to Curzon Wharf playing a key role in promoting the region as a thriving, knowledge-based business community.”
Dr David Hardman MBE, strategic partnership adviser at Bruntwood SciTech and Chair of the B-KQ Alliance, welcomed Woodbourne Group as a member of the Birmingham Knowledge Quarter (B-KQ).
He said: “The Birmingham Knowledge Quarter is a connected place-based organisation that catalyses knowledge gain, exchange and application to promote aspiration in those learning, researching and working in or engaging with the Quarter. It will drive the creation of innovation, and knowledge-led economic value for the city region.
“I am therefore delighted to welcome Woodbourne Group, the developers behind the ambitious Curzon Wharf development, to the B-KQ. Connected places such as Curzon Wharf will drive the innovation chemistry as we look to the knowledge economies to drive recovery. New competencies need to be incorporated into the mix to support the new industries to reignite and then sustain local momentum. Today that means competencies largely underpinned by digital talent. If this is achieved the city can again become an innovation engine.”
The B-KQ aims to connect its affiliates with common interests and experience, utilising the wisdom of the crowd to provide insight and thought leadership; and through the application of combined intellectual and physical assets deliver on all matters pertaining to sustaining a thriving knowledge economy in the Birmingham city region.
The £360 million net zero carbon ready Curzon Wharf development will create over 1000 jobs, provide a sustainable, mixed-use space incorporating high quality accommodation providing up to 732 student flats, 265 residential co-living units with generous amenity space and up to 498 residential units.
In addition, it will include nearly 130,000 sq ft of office, R&D and life science space, over 3,000 sq ft of retail space, over 15,000 sq ft of leisure space, over 76,424 sq ft of new and improved public realm and 490m of new and improved walking and cycling routes.
The Curzon Wharf site is positioned on the northern entry to Birmingham on the A38 Aston Expressway just south of Dartmouth Circus – a site passed by as many as 21 million road users in a normal “non-Covid” year when entering the city centre from the north.
Woodbourne Group is an investment and development group that exploits potential across all aspects of real estate through creative flair and entrepreneurial vision. Driven to reinforce Birmingham’s position as a leading sustainable city, its projects continue to regenerate the city and attract both cultural and business investment. Woodbourne Group is facing the sustainability challenge head on, creating people and planet-centred developments that unlock economic opportunities without costing the earth.
