Birmingham's planning committee has praised the 'innovative' design of a new £7.5 million digital office block on the city's science park.
Up to 400 skilled jobs are set to be created at the new iCentrum unit in Holt Street next to Birmingham Science Park Aston.
The first of four proposed buildings on the site, known collectively as Innovation Birmingham Campus along with the existing Faraday Wharf building, won unanimous approval from councillors.
Coun Mohammed Azim (Lab, Sparkbrook) said: "This building is very suitable for the new types of business coming into Birmingham and creating 400 valuable hi-tech jobs."
Coun Peter Douglas Osborn (Cons, Weoley) praised the building design, saying: "It's called the innovation centre and it's an innovative building which will give the area a sense of character.”
Innovation Birmingham Campus said funding was in place to ensure work would start within weeks and the facility would be ready next year.
iCentrum will be developed by Thomas Vale Construction and will be one of the first projects to start on site within the Greater Birmingham & Solihull LEP's Enterprise Zone which has 26 locations within central Birmingham.
iCentrum will have both self-contained office suites and a base for the Serendip business incubator programme, supporting companies in the ICT and digital gaming, built environment, digital medtech and digital media sectors.
