The Mailbox is one of the many
developments in Birmingham which
have, among other things provided
more living space near to the central
business district (CBD).
The mailbox spreads
over 25 acres of land
and is thought to be
the biggest multipurpose building in
Birmingham and the
Midlands
The building contains a
range of functions
including: 40 shops
2 hotels, one of them
opens in 2002.
200 apartments
New headquarters of
BBC Birmingham.
The mailbox was built
on the site of an old
post sorting office,
hence the name. This
means it was built on a
Brownfield site.
The apartments in
the mailbox are
aimed at executives
who work and want
easy access to the
city centre.
The mailbox is a
regenerated building. Its
shell is the same as that of
the original sorting office.
Many of the forty
shops are also aimed
at the independent
sector of society and
those on the upper
end of the pay
scales.
The mailbox, as is
shown here by the
green arrow, is very
easy to access. It can
also be noted that it is
close, within walking
distance that is, of the
main banking and
office area of Colmore
Row.
It is also easily accessible via
cars as well due to its closeness
to the inner ring road and good
sign posting.
It is also easy to access by train
with its closeness to New Street
Station and Moor Street Station.
Suffolk Street
Queensway
The mailbox is a
prominent feature at the
side of the Suffolk Street
Queensway. It is in the
middle of a fairly built up urban area, as can be
seen on the aerial
photographs.
Local high rise
buildings.
•www.streetmap.co.uk
There are many shops in the mailbox
including:- Hugo Boss, DKNY, Harvey
Nichols and Toni & Guy Essensuals.
They are situated on a two tier
waterfront walkway.
The whole complex contains, as
previously mentioned, 40 shops.
All of these are exclusive shops
and many will not be found on the
common city high street.
The number of shops and
services that the mailbox
provides, means that it will have
a sphere of influence.
A typical apartment in the
mailbox would comprise of: •An entrance hall
•Lounge/dining room
•Integrated kitchen
•Two bedrooms (master ensuite)
There are more exclusive
penthouse apartments at the top
of the mailbox with views out
over the canal or the city.
Some of the apartments
The price of an apartment in
the mailbox varies between
about £225,000 and £350,000
There are soon to be two hotels in
the mailbox. One of them is a Days
Inn and the other is going to be a
Malmaison.
The Days Inn hotel contains 90
bedrooms and it is described as
being along the waterfront (the
canal) and it therefore has views
out over it.
Malmaison will be a larger, more upmarket, hotel. It opens in the autumn
of 2002 and will contain 200 rooms, a
spa and pool, a health club and
conference facilities. It is estimated as
being a four star hotel
In this project I did not require any books for the research.
I did, however, use the internet a lot.
•My pictures of the mailbox came from www.freefoto.com
•my location map and aerial photographs came from
www.streetmap.co.uk
•My basic background information came from
www.mailboxlife.com
•Further detailed information came from: www.malmaison.com
www.rightmove.co.uk