Outstanding Places Working Group Update

Snow Hill Public Realm Programme

Permanent bollards will be installed in the new public realm on Colmore Row at the top of Livery Street to prevent drivers from doing a u-turn across the pavement. Drivers will still be able to u-turn outside the front of the station. Some vehicles like black cabs need to be able to make these turns, so unless larger vehicles start to do so this is less of a concern. 

Formal consultation on the project at the Newhall Street junction with Colmore Row begins soon with a chance to review the final proposals on site in the lobby of 103 Colmore Row.

Greening Colmore

We have been in discussion with the GBSLEP about putting together a bid for funding to give corporeal form to our greening toolkit, Going Green.  We have now submitted a pro forma expression of interest to the LEP covering the remaining projects in our Snow Hill Spatial Masterplan (see image above), plus a growing project for a section of the top floor of Snow Hill Car Park.  The total programme cost is £17.5M, with a current indication of £1.75M coming from Colmore BID across two BID terms (BID Terms 4 and 5).  GBSLEP have informally acknowledged the bid and we await formal response on whether we can proceed to a full Expression of Interest.

CONSTRUCT Photographic Exhibition

Our four-years-in-the-making photography project with GRAIN Projects and the artist Anthony Luvera finally came to fruition, with the images on display in Snow Hill Square during September and October.

CONSTRUCT is a new body of work by the socially engaged artist Anthony Luvera, created between 2018 and 2022 in collaboration with people who have experienced homelessness in Birmingham. The work was commissioned by GRAIN Projects and delivered in collaboration with SIFA Fireside and Colmore BID.

Over four years, Anthony has been embedded within the support services of SIFA Fireside. The artist began by working in the kitchen, preparing and serving meals, before inviting participants to explore photography through regular meetings and workshops. Over 50 people took part, using disposable cameras to document their experiences and camera phones to share images. Throughout the lockdowns of the COVID-19 pandemic, Anthony continued working with participants by online platforms, post, telephone, and email.

Participants were also invited to make a self-portrait for the artist’s ongoing series, Assisted Self-Portraits. To create an Assisted Self-Portrait, Anthony met each participant in a location that is important to them, to teach the individual how to use digital medium format camera equipment with a tripod, handheld flash, cable shutter release, and laptop. The final portrait is selected by the participant.

From the 14th September – 12th October 2022 the 21 new Assisted Self-Portraits are being exhibited in Snow Hill Square and a selection of photographs by participants are being shown in Snow Hill Station.

The launch event was on 21st September.