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The Custard Factory is a creative and digital business workspace complex, including independent shops, cafes and bars, on the site of what was the Bird's Custard factory off High Street, Deritend, in the
The Custard Factory project was started by Bennie Gray and substantially expanded by his son Lucan Gray, who owned and ran the project until June 2017. A City Grant Award of £800,000 was used to start the redevelopment in January 1992. This public sector funding levered in £1.6 million of private sector investment for the refurbishment of of redundant buildings, providing 145 units for use by artists, designers and communicators. The architect was the Birmingham-based firm, Glenn Howells Architects. The first phase created around 300 jobs. On the completion of the Custard Factory project, an anticipated 1,000 jobs will have been created.
Phase one consisted of the refurbishment of Scott House which is now home to a community of media companies, artists and small creative enterprises. The loading bay was turned into a lake around which are set 200 studio workshops above ground floor level. On the ground floor itself are meeting rooms, dance studios, holistic therapy rooms, a café and a record and clothes shop. In the foyer are art display cases with a larger gallery space at the rear. A huge iron dragon sculpture crawls up the exterior rear elevation. There are stages for musicians, DJs and rappers and a 220-seat theatre.
Phase two - originally named 'The Greenhouse', but now 'Gibb Square' after the Gibb Street location - was completed in 2002. It focuses on new media and media businesses and includes a hundred studio/offices plus galleries, restaurants and shops set around a central pool with fountains. The pool is sometimes emptied to allow for dance music events. The Green Man, a high sculpture by
In March 2007, the regional development agency, Advantage West Midlands, announced new funding of £9.6m for 100 new office and workspace units. The result was Zellig (former Devonshire House), a restored grade II listed building, which opened in May 2010 and features a new sculpture, the Deluge, by Toin Adams.
£10m expansion at Custard Factory hints at greater ambition for Digbeth
Custard Factory1890 Ordnance Survey map of the Custard Factory site
{{coord, 52.4752, -1.8842, display=title, region:GB_type:landmark Culture in Birmingham, West Midlands Mass media in Birmingham, West Midlands Buildings and structures in Birmingham, West Midlands Theatres in Birmingham, West Midlands Art museums and galleries in Birmingham, West Midlands
The Custard Factory is a creative and digital business workspace complex, including independent shops, cafes and bars, on the site of what was the Bird's Custard factory off High Street, Deritend, in the Digbeth
Digbeth is an area of Central Birmingham, England. Following the destruction of the Inner Ring Road, Digbeth is now considered a district within Birmingham City Centre. As part of the Big City Plan, Digbeth is undergoing a large redevelopment ...
area of central Birmingham, England.
Development
The Custard Factory complex is set in fifteenacre
The acre is a unit of land area used in the imperial
Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor, or imperialism.
Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to:
Places
United States
* Imperial, California
* Imperial, Missouri
* Imp ...
s (60,000m²) of factory buildings, originally constructed for Sir Alfred Frederick Bird (1849–1922), the son of Alfred Bird (1811–1878), the inventor of egg-free custard
Custard is a variety of culinary preparations based on sweetened milk, cheese, or cream cooked with egg or egg yolk to thicken it, and sometimes also flour, corn starch, or gelatin. Depending on the recipe, custard may vary in consistency fro ...
. The architectural firm commissioned to design the building was Hamblins. At one time, a thousand people worked at the factory. The Bird company moved to Banbury in 1964.
The Custard Factory project was started by Bennie Gray and substantially expanded by his son Lucan Gray, who owned and ran the project until June 2017. A City Grant Award of £800,000 was used to start the redevelopment in January 1992. This public sector funding levered in £1.6 million of private sector investment for the refurbishment of of redundant buildings, providing 145 units for use by artists, designers and communicators. The architect was the Birmingham-based firm, Glenn Howells Architects. The first phase created around 300 jobs. On the completion of the Custard Factory project, an anticipated 1,000 jobs will have been created.
Phase one consisted of the refurbishment of Scott House which is now home to a community of media companies, artists and small creative enterprises. The loading bay was turned into a lake around which are set 200 studio workshops above ground floor level. On the ground floor itself are meeting rooms, dance studios, holistic therapy rooms, a café and a record and clothes shop. In the foyer are art display cases with a larger gallery space at the rear. A huge iron dragon sculpture crawls up the exterior rear elevation. There are stages for musicians, DJs and rappers and a 220-seat theatre.
Phase two - originally named 'The Greenhouse', but now 'Gibb Square' after the Gibb Street location - was completed in 2002. It focuses on new media and media businesses and includes a hundred studio/offices plus galleries, restaurants and shops set around a central pool with fountains. The pool is sometimes emptied to allow for dance music events. The Green Man, a high sculpture by Tawny Gray
Toin Adams, born in Kitwe, Zambia, is a sculptor working in steel, acrylic, fibreglass and other media. She spent her early childhood in eastern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), and late teen years, in South Africa, where she attended the National Sc ...
made from vegetation and stone, overlooks Gibb Street.
Zellig
In March 2007, the regional development agency, Advantage West Midlands, announced new funding of £9.6m for 100 new office and workspace units. The result was Zellig (former Devonshire House), a restored grade II listed building, which opened in May 2010 and features a new sculpture, the Deluge, by Toin Adams.
Co-located media training
The presence of the Custard Factory has drawn two media training agencies to locate nearby. The old Trades Union Studies Centre is now a media and arts annexe of South Birmingham College and in 2005, the VIVID media centre moved from the Jewellery Quarter. About away is the new "Progress Works" complex, opened in 2005 as part of the Custard Factory quarter, on Heath Mill Lane. "The Bond" complex is also a short walk away. Three-quarters of a mile north is BIAD, the largest British university art & design teaching and research centre outside London.Nearby entertainment and shopping locations
Nearby are two music venues, The Institute (formerly The Sanctuary) and AIR, home to and owned byGodskitchen
Godskitchen is an international superclub brand which is associated with dance music and organises events, particularly in the UK and US. The company used to run a club night of the same name at their nightclub AIR, in Birmingham. Godskitchen ...
the trance superclub
A superclub is a very large or superior nightclub, often with several rooms with different themes. The term was first coined in Mixmag, the British electronic dance and clubbing magazine, in 1995, referring to the new wave of clubs such as Mi ...
. The Custard Factory is close to the Old Crown pub, a half-timbered building dating from the 14th century, Birmingham Coach Station, and the Bull Ring which is Birmingham's main shopping centre, with its landmark Selfridges building.
Occupants
Notable past and current occupants include: *'' Fused Magazine'' *Cartoonist Alex Hughes * Maverick Television * North One Television *Beer Digbeth (formerly Clink Beer)
Beer is one of the oldest and the most widely consumed type of alcoholic drink in the world, and the third most popular drink overall after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches, mainly derived from cer ...
* Punch Records
* Rhubarb Radio
* The Gadget Show
* Ocean Colour Scene
* ASOS.com
* Rare
* Codemasters
* Gensler
* Powershop
*Birmingham Pilates Studios
*No Basic Bombshell
* Fix My Broken Mac
References
£10m expansion at Custard Factory hints at greater ambition for Digbeth
External links
Custard Factory
{{coord, 52.4752, -1.8842, display=title, region:GB_type:landmark Culture in Birmingham, West Midlands Mass media in Birmingham, West Midlands Buildings and structures in Birmingham, West Midlands Theatres in Birmingham, West Midlands Art museums and galleries in Birmingham, West Midlands