A photo shoot held on the top of Alpha Tower at sunrise shows Birmingham in a whole new light.

Ten photographers went to the top of the 28-storey building in time for dawn on the weekend of Saturday and Sunday, March 18 and 19, 2017.

The result is a diverse collection of pictures, the first official shots taken from the city’s tallest office building for three years.

As well engaging with the balance between the natural sun and artificial street lighting, the images also capture the energy of the ever-evolving city centre.

Buildings photographed include the Library of Birmingham , Baskerville House , Birmingham Town Hall , the ICC , the Orion Biulding , Radisson Blu hotel and the Rotunda as well as the Paradise development.

At 328 ft (100m), the Grade II-listed Alpha Tower is the third tallest structure in Birmingham behind the Radisson Blu (427ft) and the BT Tower (499ft), both of which feature in many of the photographs.

The shots were taken by Kris Askey, Beth Astington, Matt Beach, Tim Cornbill, Jon Crampton, Ross Jukes, Fraser McGee, Verity Milligan, Martin O’Collaghan and Steve Townsend.

Which groups were involved?

BT Tower and BMAG by Fraser McGee at 6.23am on Saturday, March 18, 2017
BT Tower and BMAG by Fraser McGee at 6.23am on Saturday, March 18, 2017

CEG, the developer behind the £16m refurbishment of the Alpha building, joined forces with two groups.

IGERs Birmingham is ‘an open and welcoming community of photographers who have a passion for our art form, Instagram, and of course Birmingham’.

And Hidden Spaces is a project by Associated Architects, in association with the Birmingham Post and the Royal Institute of British Architects to share the secrets hidden behind the facades of Birmingham. For more details visits its website here .

To promote the shoot on social media, you are invited to use the hashtags #RooftopTuesdays and #AlphaSunrise as well as key social media accounts @AlphaWorksB1 @HiddenBrum and @Igersbirmingham

How is Alpha Tower being developed?

Picture by Tim Cornbill at 8.52am on Sunday, March 19, 2017
Picture by Tim Cornbill at 8.52am on Sunday, March 19, 2017

CEG is investing £16m in the redevelopment of Alpha Tower which has 190,000 sq ft of space.

The project includes developing a £1 million co-working hub called Alpha Works on the 21st and 22nd floors.

From April 2017, there will be 14,000 sq ft of office space targeted at smaller businesses and start-ups with the aim of providing a creative and collaborative working environment for the city’s new breed of entrepreneurial businesses.

Alpha Works will deliver almost 200 desks alongside a range of collaborative and co-working spaces.

Birmingham Town Hall and Paradise development. Taken at 6.21am on Sunday, March 19 by Kris Askey
Birmingham Town Hall and Paradise development. Taken at 6.21am on Sunday, March 19 by Kris Askey

Facilities will include hot desks, private offices, double height reception and event space, breakout areas, fully equipped meeting rooms and superfast broadband / Wi-Fi.

Theresa White, community manager at Alpha Works, says: “Alpha Works will provide unrivalled views of the city when we launch in April so we were keen to share our perspective, a snapshot of Birmingham’s evolving skyline with the region’s top photographers.

“Our mission at Alpha Works is to provide a creative space that fosters growth and encourages collaboration, so working on this exciting project with Hidden Spaces was a great opportunity for us.”

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What is Hidden Spaces?

The project aims to showcase and celebrate the many hidden treasures of the city that are not usually accessible to the public.

It joined forces with CEG as part of its latest #RooftopTuesdays photography initiative, with Hidden Spaces co-founder Steve Townsend taking some of the shots himself.

“Birmingham’s Hidden Spaces is all about capturing a different viewpoint of Birmingham, one that people don’t normally get to see,” he says.

“We aim to celebrate the city’s rich and diverse architectural heritage, much of which is hidden from view and inaccessible to the public.

“Alpha is one of the city’s most iconic buildings and thanks to CEG, we have been able to capture and share a unique perspective of the city that usually only the tenants of the office space get to see.”