A new 17-storey hotel featuring a 'sky bar' designed by Glenn Howells Architects in the heart of Birmingham is approved after planning officials recommended that plans get the go-ahead. The 152-bedroom complex would be located within Phase 2 of Birmingham's Paradise development and sit alongside One Centenary Way and Three Chamberlain Square.

Images show a tall, sleek building with a small square at its base and a metro line passing close by, with plans to include:

Active facades for all sides of the building;

• Ground floor belonging to bar and / or restaurant;

• Additional sky bar / restaurant on the 16th floor;

• Dedicated taxi delivery

• Bicycle storage facilities for staff and guest access to Paradise Bicycle Junction and car park

The wider Paradise development site is located between Centenary Square to the west and Chamberlain Square to the east. The site is largely housed in the former Paradise Circus Queensway gyratory system, which previously ran clockwise around the site but was redesigned as part of the original planning permission.

The A38 Queensway Tunnel runs below the site. Paradise forms part of a transitional area between the traditional ‘City Core’, including the Central Business District, the retail district and the Citizens’ Heart, to the east and south, the Jewelery Quarter (predominantly residential) to the north, and the wider ‘Westside’ convention and entertainment district to the west.

The immediate surroundings include: Summer Row and University College Birmingham to the north; Council House and Museum & Art Gallery (Grade II).

City planning staff have given the plans the green light and writes to the committee: “Overall, the proposed development complies with all requirements of the master plan permit in all respects and complies with the requirements of relevant national and local planning requirements. “It is therefore recommended for approval under conditions.”