In the post

In the post

The final phase of Birmingham’s highly successful development, The Mailbox, has moved a step nearer to completion with the installation of the final Wicona unitised panels that form its facade.

Designed by Make, The Cube is a £100m 23-storey mixed-use scheme. It is inspired by the jewellery and engineering heritage of the city, and is based on the concept of a jewellery box.

The bespoke facade has been constructed and installed by Haga using Wicona unitised curtain walling to provide 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 restaurant.

The Wicona unitised facade was engineered to allow a higher degree of movement, and removed the need for scaffolding and material storage on this constrained city centre site. Its off-site fabrication also allowed each floor to be clad ready for earlier fitting out as the building rose upwards.

Frances Gannon, partner at Make, said: “The Cube is a dramatic building on Birmingham’s skyline, emphasising its status as a world-class city. The specially designed unitised cladding system has been an important part of the building’s identity and successfully echoes the city’s heavy engineering heritage. The end result is very beautiful.”