Icknield Port Loop

Encouraging an Outdoor Community

Icknield Port Loop is a brownfield site located 1km from central Birmingham. The masterplan is designed to create a liveable, local urban neighbourhood for communities to live, work and get outdoors. A mix of characterful clusters with varied uses are blended with homes to create distinctive pockets. A key advantage lies in the existing ecology on the site such as the canals, the reservoir and the local terrain, all helping enhance those communities to come and strengthen outdoor activity.

It was important to design streets of different scales to form a clear hierarchy and create a legible townscape with a range of distinct qualities to form liveable, attractive places to dwell and work. Building massing, scale and relationship to public spaces are carefully composed to define and respond to the sites different characteristics.

A network of playful green public spaces are dotted throughout the various character areas, working in harmony with the new housing. This network creates a series of alternative walking and cycling routes, connecting different parts of the site and as a link with the surroundings areas and the city.