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HOCKLEY MILLS BIRMINGHAM

Undertaking complex drone inspection surveys of a £100m Build to Rent development in Birmingham's Jewellery Quarter delivering detailed aerial progress monitoring and high-quality footage for both programme management and marketing use.

LOCATION

Birmingham

PROJECT TYPE

Progress Monitoring

Hockley Mills is a £100m mixed-use development in Birmingham's Jewellery Quarter, delivering 395 Build to Rent homes a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments alongside a new entrance to Jewellery Quarter train station and 28,000 sq ft of flexible commercial space for retail, leisure, and offices.

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The Spacion team was commissioned to carry out a drone inspection survey of the development at a key stage of the build programme.

 

The site presented significant operational constraints: active tower cranes, a constrained urban footprint, and a live railway line on the site boundary — all of which required careful flight planning and precise execution to deliver the required coverage safely and compliantly.

Scale of delivery

  • £100m development value

  • 395 Build to Rent homes

  • 28,000 sq ft commercial space

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Delivery

The Spacion team planned and executed a comprehensive drone inspection survey across the full development, capturing detailed video footage and high-resolution photography of the site and its current build status.

 

Flight paths were carefully planned to navigate the site's constraints  including active cranes and the adjacent railway  while ensuring complete coverage of the development footprint.

Both video and stills were captured to a standard suitable for dual use: providing the project team with an accurate, detailed aerial record of programme progress, and simultaneously producing footage of sufficient quality for marketing and public engagement purposes.

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Technical approach

Constrained site operations

Flight operations were planned and executed around active tower cranes and a live railway boundary — requiring precise airspace management and coordination to achieve full site coverage safely.

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Drone video capture

Detailed drone video footage was captured across the full site, documenting build status, structural progress, and the relationship between the development and its surrounding context at this stage of the programme.

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High-resolution photography

High-resolution aerial stills were captured alongside the video footage — providing a static photographic record of progress suitable for reporting, programme monitoring, and marketing use.

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Dual-purpose output

All footage was captured and processed to serve both programme monitoring and marketing purposes — giving the project team and developer a single survey exercise that delivered value across two distinct use cases.

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Outcomes

  • The Spacion team delivered a detailed aerial record of the Hockley Mills development at a key stage of the build programme — giving the project team a clear picture of site status and how progress aligned with the construction programme

  • The constrained site — with active cranes and a live railway boundary — was navigated successfully, with full coverage of the development footprint achieved safely and compliantly

  • High-resolution drone video and photography were delivered to a standard suitable for both programme reporting and external marketing use — maximising the value of a single survey exercise

  • The aerial footage provided the developer with compelling social media and marketing content, supporting public engagement and driving further interest in the Birmingham development

  • The survey gave the project team and investor a shared, visually clear understanding of build status at this stage of a complex £100m programme

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