Reclaiming an Icon.

Elevate didn’t take on this job to salvage one of only two fine Georgian residences left in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter. The plan was to build townhouses and apartments, which they have done with the skill they have become synonymous with, but sometimes, in Steve’s words “you get dealt a hand you’re not expecting, and you have to play it.”

It was playing that hand, the hand that said the main house in the centre of the site had to be conserved, that began this passion project. “It’s been quite a journey, two and a half years under construction is a long project for us,” he says with a slight chuckle that belies the monster task he’s finally finished.

The word “sympathetic” appears on every construction related press release, but this crew isn't just sympathetic to history. They’re emotionally invested in it. It’s not a box ticking exercise to them, it’s an obligation to the past and to the future, their previous work including the renovation of an old chapel in Malvern where, it’s rumoured, Edward Elgar taught piano. And this job, here in the Jewellery Quarter, has been acknowledged by the Federation of Master Builders as Large Renovation Project and Bathroom Renovation of the Year.

“Where possible we want to preserve Birmingham’s history,” says Steve. “In truth it really isn’t always possible, but we owe it to the city when it is.”

He’s right, of course. In a city so often criticised with being trigger happy on the wrecking ball, it’s warming to see a bespoke developer doing their bit to avoid the mistakes of the past, however hard the journey.

“We don’t take on the “easy win” projects,” says Steve as he walks me to the gates of the grounds to wave me off. “It takes an element of drive to take something like this on. You can’t throw a job like this into a PLC. They just wouldn’t get it.”

Read the full article in ichoosebirmingham here