Carmody Groarke Birmingham Smithfield has secured the design commission for Plot 7A1, the key commercial building at the heart of the £1.9 billion Birmingham Smithfield regeneration, following a competition that drew 27 submissions from practices across the sector.
The London-based practice was selected ahead of a shortlist that included BIG, David Kohn Architects, and Eric Parry Architects. Carmody Groarke is working with Adamson Associates on the scheme, which combines 17,200m² of new office space with a 1,850m² reimagined Rag Market on a site described as the new eastern gateway to Smithfield.
Plot 7A1 within the Carmody Groarke Birmingham Smithfield masterplan
Plot 7A1 sits within Lendlease‘s 17-hectare masterplan, overlooking the Bullring shopping centre and St Martin’s Church. The building will be positioned adjacent to a separate indoor market building on Plot 5A, designed by David Kohn Architects in collaboration with Birmingham-based artist-run pluriverse Eastside Projects. Together, the two market buildings form a central cultural and commercial spine through the wider Smithfield development.
Kevin Carmody, founding director at Carmody Groarke, confirmed this will be the practice’s Birmingham debut. ‘The project forms part of the wider Smithfield masterplan, bringing together the existing Rag Market and Fruit and Veg Market with new workplace buildings and we are looking forward to working closely with local communities, businesses, and institutions to create a vibrant, sustainable and culturally important place for Birmingham,’ he said.
The four finalists were announced in March, selected from the 27 submissions received. Alex Housden, development director at Birmingham Smithfield, said the plot represented one of the most prominent sites within the scheme. ‘Carmody Groarke demonstrated a strong understanding of the site, its relationship with the city and the importance of placing Birmingham’s historic markets at the heart of their approach,’ Housden said.
Planning timeline and the broader design team
The practice will now work with Lendlease and Birmingham City Council towards a planning application for Plot 7A1 in early 2027. The council had named Lendlease as its joint venture partner for Birmingham Smithfield in 2018, and planning permission for the area’s £1.9 billion regeneration plans was subsequently granted in June, following a lengthy planning process.
The approved masterplan was a revision of an earlier version, drawn up by a design team including Prior + Partners and David Kohn Architects, and submitted in October 2023. An original application had been lodged in January 2023, before a revised masterplan was submitted to address concerns raised by Historic England over harm to the historic cityscape.
The masterplan design was led by Prior + Partners alongside James Corner Field Operations, the practice known as the lead designer of the New York High Line. The broader scheme includes buildings by Stirling Prize-winners dRMM and Haworth Tompkins, as well as up-and-coming local practice Minesh Patel Architects, giving the development a mix of established and emerging architectural voices alongside the now-confirmed Carmody Groarke commission.
The planning application for Plot 7A1 is targeted for submission in early 2027, at which point the project will move from its current design development phase into a formal consent process, marking a concrete next step for what will be Birmingham’s most prominent new market building in a generation.
