The £6 million transformation of a city centre building in Coventry into a major new apartment scheme designed for the post-Covid world of work has taken a huge step towards completion.
Sirius by EDG Property, on Ironmonger Row in the heart of Coventry’s retail area, has transformed a former redundant dilapidated office building into 37 apartments with retail space on the ground floor, by adding two new storeys to the top and wrapping the building in bronze-coloured metal to create an “architectural trophy”.
As well as 29 one-bedroom apartments and eight two-bedroom duplex apartments on the top two floors, overlooking a key city centre square, multi-award-winning developer EDG Property has also created an exclusive ‘residents-only’ office space which will allow apartment owners to work from home whilst escaping their own four walls, to reflect changing working patterns.
The building was “topped-out” by Councillor Jim O’Boyle, Cabinet Member for Jobs, Regeneration and Climate Change at Coventry City Council, and EDG Property Managing Director Neil Edginton.
Edginton said: “As well as creating a great living environment which is tailored to reflect the new ways of working, we’ve invested heavily into the architecture of the building so that it adds value to the surrounding area.
“A 2016 report by National Trust for Historic Preservation highlighted ‘the greenest building is the one that already exists’ so there has been a real sense of responsibility in saving and totally redeveloping another existing building – this time the building on Ironmonger Row, giving it a new lease of life for many more years to come
“We have been able to transform something which people would probably once have walked past without even noticing, to be a really strong architectural beacon on The Burges - a Coventry street which, itself, has undergone a huge transformation in recent times.”
Sirius is the third building EDG has redeveloped in Coventry city centre in the last five years after The Co-Operative and Hawkins developments.
Cllr Jim O’Boyle, Cabinet Member for Jobs, Regeneration and Climate Change who performed the topping-out, said: “Over the past few years, EDG has been playing a really important role in the delivery of high-quality city living in Coventry. They have done a brilliant job, breathing new life into un-used buildings. This is yet another example of the best of the old and the best of the new. It will look fantastic when it’s finished and it will connect brilliantly to all of the brilliant restoration going on at the Burges.
“We are now seeing people of all ages being attracted back to live and work in the city centre which is great news.”
Caption: Neil Edginton (left) and Cllr Jim O’Boyle