The AJ100 practices Narrowhouse scheme, backed by local developer GNM Developments for a derelict brownfield site at 52 Gas Street Basin, was recently submitted to Birmingham City Council. The scheme is a redesign of a smaller 160-unit co-living development submitted last summer, which featured two blocks, one rising to 14 storeys, the other to eight storeys. Drawn up for the same developer by Broadway Malyan and Glancy Nicholls, those plans were dropped shortly after.The new three-part development includes the retention of the existing historic former Toll House building facing Gas Street Basin, a six-storey podium building, and a 21-storey tower clad with solar panels.AdvertisementTogether, the revised scheme will deliver 12,000m2 of gross internal floor area, providing space for 249 co-living units and commercial and residential amenities.The project team says the Narrowhouse also aspires to be the worlds tallest multistorey energy-positive development and will reuse existing brickwork from a vacant building currently on the site. The faade features 4,000m2 of photovoltaic cladding.Broadway Malyan said the PV cladding would create enough power to serve residents while supplying nearby buildings through a local grid. It will provide power for EV charging docks for cars and canal narrowboats.Broaday Malyan said that the environmental performance of the building will be enhanced by its super-slim profile, which, at 8.5m wide, is understood would be one of the UKs slenderest residential buildings, if completed.The practice added: [The scheme sets] a new benchmark for high-density, efficient urban living. The Narrowhouses profile supports its energy-positive credentials by maximising the potential for solar energy generation, optimising passive ventilation and gearing and enabling much more efficient energy distribution.Advertisement Source:Broadway MalyanBroadway Malyan's earlier 2024 Gas St Basin schemeBroadway Malyan principal Hugo Fitzgerald said: We are hugely excited to submit these proposals. The Narrowhouse is a pioneering proposal which we hope will set a new benchmark, both in terms of energy-positive and super-slim building design.The proposals ground the development in its history, taking design prompts from wharf building typology and creating an attractive vibrant frontage along an underused part of the citys extensive canal network. Reusing stacked brick from the original building to form the podium makes the building relatable and, with the retention of the Toll House, echoes the past.The 21-storey tower is entirely clad in an animated BIPV faade, signalling Birminghams ambition to move forward with the use of future developments that could potentially offer positive energy to feed back into the city, supporting the citys net zero ambitions, while also providing an exciting new place for Birminghams population to live.Gerald Manton, managing director of GNM Developments, said: The Narrowhouse is more than a building, its a statement about the future of sustainable urban living. This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to position Birmingham as a global leader in sustainable development. With the UK working towards net zero targets and demand for affordable housing increasing, Birmingham is perfectly positioned to lead this transformation.Subject to planning, work on the scheme will start in late 2026, with completion scheduled for 2028.Current view