Future of Snobs nightclub in doubt due to Smallbrook Queensway regeneration plans

The future of one of Birmingham’s best-loved nightclub, Snobs, may be in doubt, after a spokesperson for a developer confirmed the indie venue could face demolition and would have to move out if regeneration plans went ahead.

The revelation came after the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) attended a public meeting last night (28 February) at the Birmingham and Midland Institute about the future of the Ringway Centre.

The Ringway Centre, located along the Smallbrook Queensway, is a defining piece of brutalist architecture in the city, and first opened in 1962. It faces an uphill struggle against planning officers at Birmingham city council who are considering replacing the centre altogether.

A planning application lodged by Commercial Estates Group (CEG) wants to replace it with three giant buildings with around 1,750 flats, a spa, cinema, gym and nightclub. The towering blocks will be made up of mostly one, two and three-bedroom apartments.

Three planned new public spaces at Hurst Plaza, Wrottesley Steps, and Smithfield Steps, have also been lodged. Snobs sits underneath a part of the Ringway Centre. A design and art statement shows no rendering of Snobs, nor of any of the other businesses that trade underneath the centre, nor down Hurst Street into the Chinese Quarter and Gay Village.

The LDRS asked a representative of CEG, Nick Jones, why Snobs was not featured in any of the design and art statements shown to members of the public passionate about Birmingham’s cityscape and architecture.

In response, Mr Jones said: “So Snobs are aware. They’re a tenant. And the lease is coming to an end. We’ve had various discussions around whether they should be able to come back in or not, but then this will be a construction site for a number of years. So for them to continue trading would be to find a new location.”

When questioned to confirm Snobs would be forced to relocate, Mr Jones said: “To continue trading they would have to do so. You’d have to ask them directly what their intent would be.”

Last year an open letter, signed by 31 key figures in heritage and architecture, claimed the building “cannot and should not remain empty”.

Mary Keating, who formed the Brutiful Birmingham action group, has urged the city council to save its heritage and history. She said she found, under a Freedom of Information request, that 150 people had objected to the plans to demolish the Ringway Centre.

During the meeting she said: “I think the really key thing about the council proposal is the whole issue of the environment, the embodied carbon in this building, which is enormous at 50 feet long.

“It’s only 60 years old. You would expect it to be retrofitted, you would not expect it to be being knocked down.”

She claimed the city would face up to 14 years of disruptions to allow building work to commence, if plans were approved.

“The disruption is a psychological disruption for continually demolishing and changing the landscape of the city that we know. We have a material memory – we grow up with buildings, we live our lives with buildings, they’re part of the way we understand ourselves and the memories we have with our friends, our family, and everything else in the world.

“To have that continually eroded I think doesn’t do Birmingham citizens very much good at all.”

John Christophers, an architect at Zero Carbon House – a housing firm which aims to advocate for sustainable development in cities – claimed the development itself had “marginal economic benefits” for Birmingham.

He told the meeting: “In the planning application submitted, there’s an economic statement which appears to suggest that the economic viability of the scheme is so marginal it justifies 0% of affordable housing, in contrast to the 35% which has already been mentioned as the as the city’s housing policy. I think that speaks for itself.”

Snobs nightclub has been contacted for comment.

You can view the planning application here.