Devonshire House, Custard Factory, Birmingham
for Bennie Gray

The regeneration project and refurbishment of Devonshire House, part of the original Birds Custard Factory, in Birmingham's most prestigious arts and media quarter, will provide artists, musicians, dancers and media people with contemporary and minimalist studio space in an inspiring historic context.

This much loved but neglected building on one of the main routes into the city will go through a major internal refurbishment and reconfiguration. Additional rooftop extensions including a frameless "glass box" to the fourth floor and tensile/glazed roof coverings providing 3 new atria will form both performance spaces and backdrops for artwork. Within two of the atria, sculptors and artists have been engaged to provide world class installations to enhance the siting of pedestrian glass bridges, providing a dramatic circulation route to upper levels.

The ground floor is a mix of galleries/restaurants/cafes set around performance/sculpture areas. This series of "events" locates the user as they pass through the spaces within the building. Upper floor plates have been opened out to provide links to the original Custard Factory units and future developments, ensuring a route through the building which allows a permeable and visual link for the public. An opening into the previously redundant basement to create further studio/gallery space opening into a sunken courtyard is a further addition to the exciting interlocking spaces now created.

The project is due for completion in March 2010 having received AWM funding.