New stewardship

Slow and careful change

The site of Birmingham’s Industrial Revolution is going through a revolution of another kind. A concentration of young creative businesses pioneered this neighbourhood, attracted to its industrial architecture and liberally applied street art. Today, Digbeth’s renaissance continues under the stewardship of Oval.

Since June 2017, Oval has been carefully revitalising parts of Digbeth, providing much-needed investment in the multi-tenanted buildings – be it simple estate management like replacing boilers, installing CCTV and updating common areas, or larger projects to bring derelict buildings back to life and create new public spaces. Oval works closely with the Digbeth Estate team to offer its occupier community the best possible on-the-ground support.

We work on the basis that ‘gradual change lasts longer’, which we hope is visible through our rolling programme to refurbish and re-purpose some of Digbeth’s buildings.

The vision

Following the publication of the ‘Digbeth Vision’ Oval are in the process of preparing long term plans for their estate. The plans will take the form of a Framework, which will guide future long term development, allowing Oval to invest in the area, slowly introducing new elements to add to the vitality of Digbeth.

It is anticipated that these elements will include new places to work and play including offices, shops, restaurants and cafés, new public and private spaces and playful spaces, capable of hosting a range of events and activities to add to the vibrancy of the area. The Framework will also introduce homes to the area, providing the opportunity for people to live and work within walking distance of each other.

Oval are at an early stage of this process and have submitted an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Scoping Report to Birmingham City Council. This document assesses the maximum potential development to ensure that all possible impacts are considered in future planning applications.

Let’s talk

This is an exciting time for Digbeth and we want to ensure that everyone that wants to be involved can be. We will be sharing more details on this website, including details of consultation events and how you can have your say on the future of Digbeth. Please keep vising this site for more information.

In the meantime the Oval team has an open door policy for anyone keen to know more. If you’d like to get in touch or have a question, please get in touch using the contact form.