125 Colmore Row was designed as the Birmingham Headquarters of Lloyds TSB. Completed in 2001, it incorporates 145,000 square feet of offices over nine floors arranged around a full height atrium; with a banking hall at ground level.

The site is particularly sensitive being located in the corner of Victoria Square; Birmingham’s civic centre. The surrounding Victorian buildings are highly detailed and of a very good quality. The new design needed to achieve the correct massing, scale and elevational treatment to relate well to its neighbours while at the same time providing a commercial building with a contemporary feel.

The solution uses a highly articulated precast reconstructed stone façade treatment incorporating a combination of circular columns and mullions, spandrels, punched window units and moulded cornices. The system expresses the structure externally and provides very large areas of glazing. A large circular bay with the bank entrance below forms the focal point of the building when viewed from the square, while the main facades, seen obliquely, appear to have a depth and solidity in keeping with the adjacent Council House.