Architects in Birmingham: community outreach centre at 215 High Street, Smethwick

Looking for architects in Birmingham to design a community facility on a constrained site? At 215 High Street, Smethwick, Lapworth Architects designed and submitted proposals for a community outreach centre for The Abrahamic Foundation, combining a practical internal layout with a stepped gabion retaining wall to stabilise long-neglected ground conditions.

Lapworth Architects designed and submitted proposals for a new community outreach centre for The Abrahamic Foundation at 215 High Street, Smethwick, serving Harborne and the wider Birmingham community. The Foundation occupies a prominent plot on the edge of the town centre, where neglected land and unstable ground had long created safety and maintenance issues.

Project at a glance

• Location: High Street, Smethwick

• Client: The Abrahamic Foundation

• Use: community outreach centre

• Facilities proposed: soup kitchen, community kitchen, flexible rooms for advice, learning and evening programmes

• Key constraint: unstable ground and boundary condition

• Engineering: stepped gabion retaining wall developed with B&G Consulting Engineers

• Workflow: planning submission coordinated through UK Planning Gateway

Brief and community use

The brief is practical: create a place where people can eat, meet and access support. The proposed centre includes a soup kitchen, a community kitchen and flexible rooms that can host advice sessions, learning and evening programmes. The building is designed to be easy to find, easy to use and welcoming to first-time visitors.

Design and site stabilisation

The design combines architectural detailing, landscape integration and structural coordination. A stepped gabion retaining wall stabilises the boundary between the mosque and the neighbouring property, developed with B&G Consulting Engineers. The three-tier form, with two, one-and-a-half and one metre steps, provides stability while forming a durable, textured edge appropriate for a town-centre setting.

Layout, materials and landscape

On the street, the building is intended to read as calm and robust, using materials suited to daily community use. Inside, a direct arrival route leads to the professional kitchen, community dining hall and adaptable spaces that can change purpose through the day.

The landscape strategy connects the retaining structure with soft planting, turning a previously derelict edge into a maintained and welcoming boundary.

Planning coordination and delivery process

Design and planning were managed on a consistent digital workflow. Submission material was prepared in a council-ready format and revisions tracked through UK Planning Gateway to reduce avoidable queries and keep coordination clear across the consultant team.

Architects in Birmingham and the wider West Midlands

For clients searching for architects in the West Midlands, this project shows how Lapworth Architects combine social purpose with technical delivery on constrained sites. We work across the region, including Harborne, Edgbaston, Sutton Coldfield and Solihull.

FAQs

What is proposed at 215 High Street, Smethwick?
A new community outreach centre for The Abrahamic Foundation, including a soup kitchen, community kitchen and flexible rooms for advice, learning and evening programmes.

Why was a retaining structure required on the site?
Neglected land and unstable ground at the boundary had created safety and maintenance issues, requiring a stabilising solution as part of the proposals.

What retaining solution was designed?
A stepped gabion retaining wall in three tiers, developed with B&G Consulting Engineers, forming a stable boundary and a durable external finish.

How is the internal layout organised?
A direct arrival route leads to a professional kitchen, a community dining hall and adaptable rooms that can change function through the day.

How does the landscape strategy support the scheme?
Planting and external works connect the new retaining structure to the site, improving the public edge and creating a maintained, welcoming boundary.

How was the planning submission managed?
Drawings and supporting documents were coordinated through UK Planning Gateway to track revisions and keep the package consistent and council-ready.