The importance of community, addressing the skills gap and how to ensure large projects don’t ostracise locals were some of the key issues raised at a recent discussion event in Birmingham about the city’s development and the critical role of placemaking within society.
Chaired by Sandi Rhys Jones OBE, CIOB immediate past president, CIOB and Building Brum brought together industry leaders and key stakeholders from prominent Birmingham city-centre developments to discuss the challenges and opportunities of build-to-rent projects.
The panel were Dav Bansal, partner at Howells, Selina Mason, director of masterplanning and strategic design at Lendlease, Tom Wraight MCIOB, regional director at Careys, and Alison Kilby, associate director at Arup.
The session tackled questions around the community effect of large builds, attracting talent and ensuring that large projects like Smithfield and Martineau Galleries benefit local communities.
Bansal emphasised the need to recognise social spaces and understand the demographics of the area. Wraight highlighted that less academic individuals often struggle to meet apprenticeship criteria, with Kilby adding that they can be more competitive than graduate schemes.
Scale helps mitigate gentrification by offering varied tenures, and community building can take decades, noted Mason. Bansal reinforced the importance of ‘placeshaping’ rather than ‘placemaking’, prioritising long-term community needs.
The evening concluded with panellists sharing key ingredients for delivering successful build-to-rent schemes. These included affordability, flexible amenity spaces, engaging with the right people and ESG.
