Warwick Bar is a predominantly industrial area close to the centre of Birmingham. It is also an historically significant site at the termination of the Grand Union canal with fine examples of industrial waterside architecture. FAT, together with environmental engineers XC02, developers AZ Urban Studio and public artists MUF, were invited to develop a masterplan for the area's regeneration.

Our team's proposal envisaged an incremental, phased approach that built on the inherent qualities of the site. Seeking to turn the process of regeneration itself into an attractor for investors and visitors, the masterplan proposed a subtle interweaving of new buildings, temporary buildings and events and inventive adaptations of existing structures. The proposal also aimed to achieve carbon neutrality through the use of alternative renewable energy sources (bio-mass, photo-voltaic panels and wind power), recycling of material and waste and the preservation of as much of the existing site as possible.