The Cube Birmingham

The Cube was the final phase of Birmingham's highly successful Mailbox development and features a dramatic facade created using 20,000 unitised panels. 

This is an exceptional £100m, 23-storey mixed-use scheme, that pushed the boundaries of design and construction. The 42,000m² development was inspired by the jewellery and engineering heritage of the city and is based on the concept of a jewellery box. 

The bespoke facade was constructed using unitised curtain walling and provides a geometric blend of projecting gold, silver and bronze anodised aluminium panels and glass. This intricate design is complemented by a decorative metallic fretwork screen. 

The 20,000 panels have three different depths, casting a variety of shadows to add texture to the external facade. The internal elevations are different, but no less dramatic, designed to emphasise the jewels within the box. Glazed unitised panels twist up through a central courtyard and explode at the top to crown the building with the city's first rooftop bar and restaurant.

The Cube is a high profile mixed-use project, which has a low-energy design. Modular cladding gave architects the flexibility to tailor the glazing on the external and internal elevations in response to potential solar gain, providing a high degree of insulation and airtightness, as well as a low U value facade. 

This project created a spectacular new entrance to the canal network and city centre, accomodating a 44-bedroom boutique hotel, four floors of waterside retail and restaurants, 244 apartments, Grade A offices, a rooftop restaurant and a sky bar.