New Warehouse for Stirchley Builders’ Merchants

We were very pleased to have received full planning permission on behalf of RF (UK) Ltd for the demolition of the existing warehousing and MOT garage at SBP Building Products Ltd, Pershore Road, Stirchley and replacement with a new larger purpose-built 881 sqm. warehouse.

At present, the company uses a variety of repurposed buildings on the site, of varying ages, sizes and designs, for warehousing, alongside the RikFit Autocentre and Recovery. The application proposes the replacement of the entire range of buildings on its rear site boundary at 1510 – 1518 Pershore Road with a purpose-built warehouse building. The existing buildings are a variety of styles and heights and not fit for the desired purpose of providing efficient modern warehousing befitting to the successful SBP business which has operated from the site for many years and wishes to continue to operate in Stirchley.

The new warehouse was designed by our Architectural Team and will be constructed in facing brick, with detailing on the brick gables including a brick dentil course, soldier course and protruding piers detail. The varied roofline breaks down the perceived massing of the building both from Pershore Road and the housing to the rear and reflects the finer urban grain of the context. During the processing of the application, our Planning and Architectural Team worked closely with the client and the Council’s Planning and Urban Design officers to arrive at a complementary scheme.

SBP Building Products Ltd are an independent building materials’ supplier and an important local employer. They have a deep-rooted history in Stirchley, the business essentially retaining its original location during the last 50 years by expanding first into the neighbouring terraced unit when the engineer who occupied that retired, then further to the neighbouring petrol station when that closed, and then into the chapel building at 1510 when the local carpet shop stopped using it for their storage. SBP have invested over £1m in acquiring additional space for its operation and a further £250,000+ in attempting to make use of the unideal space. The company also lease a warehouse at 1-3 Mayfield Road and a site nearby at Ivy Road. The Rikfit garage will relocate to the company’s premises in Kings Norton.

We wish SBP Building Products Ltd continued success.