10 Holloway Circus

10 Holloway Circus stands in Birmingham’s city centre as a 400-foot mixed-use skyscraper. It was designed by Ian Simpson and built by Laing O’Rourke for the Beetham Organisation. The building has 39 floors, with the lower 19 floors forming a Radisson Blu hotel that opened in January 2006. The upper 20 floors contain 158 apartments, and the structure includes eight circular concrete columns supporting each floor. It ranks as the fifth tallest building in Birmingham and the 94th tallest in the United Kingdom. The tower’s front façade features floor-to-ceiling glass with distinctive ‘tiger stripes’ to emphasise its vertical lines. Some windows were later fitted with aqua-coloured camouflage, while coloured lights beneath the overhang illuminate the building at night. In 2006, it received 12 points in the Emporis Skyscraper Awards, placing eighth in the top ten. The design was chosen after a competition for a gateway to the city centre, though its height was reduced due to post-9/11 restrictions. Visitors find a striking glass-clad tower with a curved frontage and overhanging top. The lower floors house the hotel, while the upper levels offer residential apartments. The building’s construction faced challenges, including cladding panels detaching in 2005 and a shattered glass panel in 2007. Despite these issues, it remains a prominent feature of Birmingham’s skyline, standing near Holloway Circus with the Sentinels visible opposite.