Birmingham City Council’s planning committee has unanimously approved Wavensmere Homes’ plans for a £45m redevelopment of the Clarendon Suites site in Edgbaston, Birmingham. The 1.39 Ha (3.43-acre) site – which has lain vacant for 12 years – will be reanimated into an exemplary new community of 165 new houses and apartments.
The derelict site is located off Clarendon Road and the arterial A456 Hagley Road, which spans from the Black Country and M5 motorway, through Birmingham’s leafy western suburbs and into the heart of the city centre. The detailed plans were submitted by Glancy Nicholls Architects and Tetra Tech in August 2025, following stakeholder engagement and a public consultation exercise. Designed to emulate the surrounding conservation area, the development will incorporate architectural detailing from Edgbaston’s grand traditional residences.
A total of 75 three-bedroom townhouses and 90 one- and two-bedroom apartments will be constructed, complimented by 0.55Ha of public open space and 0.18Ha of private communal space for residents’ use, equipped with natural children’s play spaces, swales and extensive landscaping.
Ben Clarke, Development Director for Wavensmere Homes, said: “We are pleased that Birmingham City Council’s planning committee shares our vision for this prominent site and has approved our plans. Our design ethos places a significant emphasis on placemaking, intricately pairing requirements of modern living with the timeless charm of Edgbaston’s grand residences. This development will help to address the significant unmet demand for family houses in Edgbaston, while transforming a prominent derelict site in the process.
“Clarendon has been designed to overcome various brownfield site complexities and it will greatly enhance the street scene along Hagley Road, Clarendon Road and Stirling Road. We look forward to working with the Council to process the pre-commencement conditions efficiently, so that we can start work on site as soon as possible.”
The development will have three distinct character zones, the first of which draws reference from the traditional housing along Clarendon and Stirling Road, incorporating contemporary detailing to reinterpret the historic form. The central zone features more unique, contemporary housing styles. The third zone comprises a six-storey apartment building fronting Hagley Road, which is designed to establish its own identity and respond to the scale and character of the urban setting.
Vehicular access to the site is from Stirling Road. Mature category A trees will be retained along Hagley Road, with additional planting and biodiversity net gains. The latest Future Homes Standard green energy features are incorporated into the proposals for the new homes, with the highest EPC rating of A targeted.
Jacob Bonehill, Planning Director for Tetra Tech, said: “This is a fantastic scheme in a sustainable location with great public transport connections. The future residents will have access to a shared communal garden at the heart of the development, with the houses also benefitting from private terraces. These innovative design features ensure that Wavensmere’s development plans will make efficient use of this long vacant brownfield site.”
Opened to great fanfare in 1971, the largely windowless John Madin-designed structure functioned as Clarendon Suites by the Warwickshire Masonic Brethren until its closure in February 2014. It staged conferences, exhibitions and banquets, in addition to use as the Provincial Grand Lodge of Warwickshire Masons.
A significant fire broke out in February 2019 and demolition and site clearance followed in 2022. Following a site marketing exercise in 2024, Wavensmere Homes was chosen as the preferred developer by JLL’s Birmingham residential team.
Many of the best schools in the Midlands will be within walking distance of Clarendon, together with attractions such as the Botanical Gardens, Edgbaston Priory Club, a plethora of fine heritage assets, and the upmarket eateries and amenities of Edgbaston village.
Headquartered in nearby Calthorpe Road, Wavensmere Homes has 3,500 homes on site, or currently in planning. The multi-award winning national urban regeneration specialist is constructing four additional major brownfield regeneration schemes, located in Cheltenham, Derbyshire and Wolverhampton, and has further projects in the immediate pipeline.
