Undergraduate Field Trip to Birmingham 2016

The second year undergraduate students in the School of the Built Environment (Planning/Urban Design, Real Estate and Construction) joined together for the recent field trip to Birmingham (on 12 February). The trip was part of the second year integrative project module, a module which gives students the opportunity to integrate the knowledge and experience that they have already gained during the first two years by completing and presenting a group project. For the Birmingham field trip project, students will be working together in small groups to produce a workable proposal that will be presented to a panel of judges (much like in real life). Each group consists of a mix of students (and skills) from across Real Estate, Construction and Planning/Urban Design.

The location of the development site for the project is Warwick Bar, situated in the Digbeth area of Birmingham. It is a historic area of workshops, warehouses, offices and housing. The site itself is a challenging one to develop as it is bounded on two sides by canals. The overall aim of the project is to identify a new long term use for the site taking into consideration potential changes to the area brought about by the HS2 development and taking into account the Birmingham Master Plan.

And so to the field trip...a story told through the photos of George Blumberg (thanks George). Click on the blue links for more information.

The day started with a series of presentations introduced by Sally Sims (Oxford Brookes) and included: Craig Rowbottom (Development Planning Manager from Birmingham City Council), Charles Toogood (Senior Director at Bilfinger GVA) and Parastou Shahidzadeh (Project Manager at Mace).

Walking from Curzon Street towards the Digbeth Branch Canal and 

Digbeth - the tour took the students down Heath Mill Lane and through Birmingham's creative quarter, past the Custard Factory and the car park with the gates made of crushed cars...

...to Fazeley Street, home to The Bond Company, Minerva Works and Fazeley Studios: 'a workplace for the digital age' and then back to the Bullring in the city centre.

After lunch. The second walking tour. Starting from the Bullring Shopping Centre, the students went for a look at Grand Central and the redevelopment of New Street Station before moving onto...

...the Mailbox, Gas Street Basin, Brindley Place, Centenary Square, Paradise Circus and Victoria Square. 

Then back to Oxford Brookes to start work on the development projects. Students from the following courses attended the field trip - to find out more about any of the courses, click on the blue links:

BA/MPlan City and Regional Planning
BA Planning and Property Development
BSc Construction Project Management
BSc Quantity Surveying and Commercial Management
BSc Real Estate Management