November 21 – Birmingham City have unveiled plans for a striking 62,000-capacity stadium that will anchor a multi-billion-pound redevelopment in the city – a project club chairman Tom Wagner says will become “a beacon for excellence for Birmingham”.
The Birmingham City Powerhouse, to be built on the former Birmingham Wheels site in Bordesley Green, will form the heart of the new Sports Quarter, a £3bn investment led by Wagner and Knighthead Capital Management. The complex is supported by the UK government’s £2.4 billion commitment to West Midlands transport links, announced earlier this year.
Visible from up to 40 miles away, the design is defined by 12 industrial chimneys – a nod to the brickworks that once occupied the land. One chimney will house a lift up to a panoramic bar overlooking the city. Wagner said the concept is a celebration of the region’s “heritage of industry, ingenuity and growth”.
The stadium will feature a retractable roof capable of closing in 20 minutes and a moveable pitch, opening the venue to concerts, multi-sport events and year-round use. A ‘steep bowl’ design is intended to intensify the matchday atmosphere, with markets, cafés, restaurants and family areas built into the concourses.
The Championship club, celebrating its 150th anniversary, is targeting completion for the 2030/31 season. The reveal was made with a film featuring Jude Bellingham and Peaky Blinders character Arthur Shelby, produced at Steven Knight’s Digbeth Loc Studios.
Designer Thomas Heatherwick said the brief was to create a stadium that felt rooted in the city, not detached from it.
“Too often, stadiums feel like spaceships that could have landed anywhere,” he said. “This stadium grows from Birmingham itself – from its brickworks, its thousand trades, and the craft at its core. It will truly come alive where it meets the ground; a place for play, gathering and everyday life.”
Wagner said the scale of the project reflects Birmingham City’s ambition to compete at the highest level. “This is a huge milestone – the iconic design is a statement of intent for the City of Birmingham and the West Midlands, testament to a region that is on the rise,” he said.
The wider Sports Quarter masterplan includes housing, hotels, green space and new recreational facilities across the 48-acre site, with thousands of jobs expected to be created over the coming years.
Contact the writer of this story, Harry Ewing, at moc.l1763725906labto1763725906ofdlr1763725906owedi1763725906sni@g1763725906niwe.1763725906yrrah1763725906
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