Make Ltd.

The Cube In United Kingdom

The Cube In United Kingdom
Courtesy of Make Architects

THE CUBE

Make Architects

ARCHITECTS
Make Architects

AREA
42000.0 m2

PROJECT YEAR
2010

LOCATION
Birmingham, United Kingdom

CATEGORY
Mixed Use Architecture, Housing, Office Buildings

Text description provided by architect.

The Cube is the final phase of Birmingham’s Mailbox development and one of Make’s largest buildings to date.

The Cube In United Kingdom
Courtesy of Make Architects
The Cube In United Kingdom
Courtesy of Make Architects
The Cube In United Kingdom
Courtesy of Make Architects

Comprising offices, an automated car park, apartments, retail units, a hotel, spa, restaurant and ‘sky bar’, The Cube was conceived as a building which would never close; crafted to open up routes and views to emerging neighbouring districts and permeable to both the users of the building and the community as a whole.

Pivotal to the continued regeneration of the surrounding area,The Cube’s striking appearance has had a dramatic impact on the Birmingham city skyline. The geometrical form of this 23-storey, £100 million building has remained unchanged from initial concept to completion.

Its architectural language is derived from strong local references to Birmingham’s industrial heritage, celebrating the contrasts between heavy industrial metal working and hand-crafted jewellery and watch making.

The Cube In United Kingdom
Courtesy of Make Architects
The Cube In United Kingdom
Courtesy of Make Architects
The Cube In United Kingdom
Courtesy of Make Architects

A bespoke unitised cladding system encases and defines the cube form. Gold and bronze-coloured an odised aluminium panels of varying size and depth are combined with glass,creating an intricate design which is complemented by an elegant and decorative metallic fretwork screen across the open side of the courtyard. The flexibility of this cladding system also plays a key role in the building’s environmental strategy; the proportion of glass-to-aluminium varies from facade to facade, with greater solidity on the southern elevations to limit potential solar gain.

The geometry and materials of the courtyard are an unexpected contrast to the exterior; glazed unitised panels twist upwards through the central courtyard, forming adramatic full-height open atrium which is animated by thecolours of the soffits and ledges.

This twisting geometry ‘explodes’ at the top to form the angular rooftop space which crowns the building.

The Cube In United Kingdom
Courtesy of Make Architects


The Cube In United Kingdom
Elevation
The Cube In United Kingdom
Sketch
The Cube In United Kingdom
Render

Make Ltd.
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Make Ltd.
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