First HS2 station approved: Grimshaw’s Curzon Street plans waved through
Grimshaw has secured planning approval for a new seven-platform High Speed 2 (HS2) station at Curzon Street, central Birmingham
Three separate applications for the station and surrounding area were given the green light via a digital planning committee on the 23 April, after Birmingham City Council officers described the design by Grimshaw and WSP as ‘truly world class’.
The council’s report said: ‘The elegant and (deceptively) simple form of the main station building clearly reads as a railway station and harks back to traditional station architecture, delivering this in a confident and contemporary way.'
West Midlands mayor Andy Street has previously described the proposed station as having ‘all the charm of Stansted’s airport baggage drop-off area’ – although that was before Grimshaw unveiled tweaks to the design in January.
Curzon Street is the first HS2 station to receive planning permission. London Euston, Old Oak Common and Solihull Interchange stations are all still awaiting approval.
The new Curzon Street scheme will be net zero-carbon in operation and have more than 2,800m² of solar panels on platform canopies, as well as the means to capture rainwater. Other features of the design include new grassland and woodland areas being developed around the station.
The new station will also incorporate the existing Grade I-listed Old Curzon Street building via a concourse at New Canal Street.
HS2 has started procuring a construction contractor for the station, which is due to complete by 2026.
