Digbeth Masterplan

Ian Ritchie Architects were commissioned by Birmingham City Council in Spring 1989 to conceive a holistic strategy for the urban regeneration of 50 acres of Digbeth, Birmingham as an international, national and regional media area.
Our strategy was based on key transformation criteria :
–    local people, business and their latent energy
–    recycling appropriate physical buildings and spaces
–    creating an area identity
–    ensuring visual connexity with Birmingham centre and adjacent ‘quarters’.
–    identifying and conceiving new media based ‘generators’
–     Establishing a master plan integrating the potential physical     characteristics with the human and economic activity envisaged.
The master plan envisaged the transformation of the area into a vibrant centre for media and creative industries with a future population of 10,000, living, working and playing.
Our starting point is people, indigenous as well as future, and an aspiration to create a balanced community within an exceptional urban environment. Its success would be measured by the cultural, industrial and economic future livelihood of the area, and the dynamic, environmental and visual urban qualities of its built form and landscaped spaces.