Plans have been submitted for The Narrowhouse, a proposed 29-storey energy-positive co-living tower in Birmingham's Gas Street Basin. The development aims to generate more energy than it consumes, offering 249 apartments and integrating sustainable design with historical preservation.
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00:00At this overlooked spot on the canal, developers are planning something they say could change the way we live in cities.
00:07The narrow house isn't just another block of flats, it's designed to power itself and then some.
00:13But these are early stage ambitions, not guarantees.
00:16The plans were previously refused in 2024 when the scheme, then known as Gather and Soul, was rejected over heritage concerns.
00:24So, can a tower like this do more than just look the part?
00:29This will be a zero energy building, there will be no energy bills.
00:33In fact, if it works properly, we should be able to use the excess energy as a secondary income source for the building.
00:41Nobody in this building will have bills.
00:44What this also does from a regional point of view, an area point of view, is that we're not drawing electricity from the grid,
00:52we're reducing that burden to the grid and we're also enabling the local energy infrastructure to be strengthened.
01:03With its ultra narrow frame less than nine metres wide, the narrow house would be wrapped in solar panels from top to bottom.
01:10The cladding is meant to turn sunlight into energy, not just for the tower, but for nearby homes and canal boats too.
01:17That's the pitch, but some locals see it differently, more like an oversized statement that doesn't fit the area.
01:23And with costs rising, is this really a solution for residents or just a showcase for a new tech?
01:33We only have to look at other cities around the UK, London, Manchester, Glasgow, they've all got co-living space.
01:44We're a late adopter of co-living in Birmingham.
01:47One of the highest growth areas of real estate in the UK at the moment is co-living.
01:54It's been proven already, we don't have to prove it, we've just got to bring it to the city.
01:59Co-living might sound trendy, but it's also becoming a catch-all answer to rising housing costs.
02:06This scheme includes 249 private studios, shared spaces and rooftop terraces, but it's not without criticism.
02:14Some fear a future of high density housing with communal buzzwords, but a little lasting community.
02:20And while the design nods to Birmingham's heritage, there are worries the area's historic character is being pushed aside to make way.
02:29It's baked into the name itself, Gas Street Basin, Gas Street.
02:33The retort over the road was where they put coal, they heated coal up and the gas was produced and they pumped that to the street lights to light the city.
02:42What better place than to have the future energy generating buildings right here, where it all began in Birmingham.
02:50Now, these couple of buildings here get knocked down. The Toll House on the end we keep, which is one of the most historic buildings on site.
02:56We keep that and we restore that building to its former glory.
03:002, 3, 4, 4, 3, 4, and 5, 3, 4.
03:16We're not too busy here in the building.
03:18We're wasn't even aware of the windows that are left behind.
03:19We're not too busy here in the building.