Upgrade planned for Birmingham Children’s Hospital

The trust that runs Birmingham Children's Hospital has submitted plans to upgrade the site

Plans for a major upgrade to Birmingham Children's Hospital have been submitted.

Proposals include the creation of an MRI Suite and new operating theatres as well as the rebuilding of entrances.

However, conservationists have objected to the proposals to revamp the Grade II listed Victorian building.

The hospital falls within the Steelhouse Conservation Area in the city centre alongside the law courts.

Birmingham Women's and Children's NHS Trust also wants to replace windows and install a heat pump system.

An artist's drawing of the proposed extensions

The proposed extension to the hospital's R Block, which sits along Loveday Street, would see three floors created, with the theatres and MRI suite plus recovery wards and cancer services on the third.

The two floors below would serve the emergency department, walk-in services and a new pharmacy.

A courtyard with play zones, a café and an observation deck is planned for a proposed S Block next to the main entrance on Steelhouse Lane.

The application, submitted to Birmingham City Council, states: "There is currently no waiting or play space for families and children, and it does not provide a sense of arrival to what is a world-class centre of excellence for children's medicine."

An objection has been submitted by the council's conservation department.

The hospital hopes to add an extension next to the Steelhouse Lane entrance

The Victorian Society has also objected, urging the council to refuse the plans on the grounds that the extensions would "appear too dominant and overpowering".

The group is in favour of demolishing the current entrance but says the scale of the change is too large and "awkwardly asymmetrical" and adds that the use of glazed walls and wooden columns are "completely alien" to the flame-coloured walls.

Historic England has called for more to be done to conserve the distinctive red brick building, while Birmingham Civic Society says the plans are let down by the need to retain modern parts of the building given planning permission before it was listed.