Editing Custard Factory (section)

==Development==
The Custard Factory complex is set in fifteen [[acre]]s (60,000m<sup>2</sup>) of factory buildings, originally constructed for [[Sir Alfred Bird, 1st Baronet|Sir Alfred Frederick Bird]] (1849–1922), the son of [[Alfred Bird]] (1811–1878), the inventor of egg-free [[custard]]. The architectural firm commissioned to design the building was Hamblins. At one time, a thousand people worked at the factory.{{Citation needed|date=April 2022}} The Bird company [[Kraft Foods Banbury|moved to Banbury]] in 1964.
[[File:Custard Factory Dragon (cropped).JPG|thumb|The Custard Factory Dragon sculpture]]
The Custard Factory project was started by Bennie Gray and substantially expanded by his son Lucan Gray,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Brown |first=Graeme |date=2015-10-13 |title=Custard Factory boss Lucan Gray angered by contract scrapped by his father |url=http://www.birminghampost.co.uk/business/creative/custard-factory-boss-lucan-gray-10246113 |access-date=2022-04-20 |website=Business Live |language=en}}</ref> who owned and ran the project until June 2017.{{Citation needed|date=April 2022}} A City Grant Award of £800,000 was used to start the redevelopment in January 1992. This public sector funding levered in £1.6 million of private sector investment for the refurbishment of {{convert|100000|sqft|m2|abbr=on}} of redundant buildings, providing 145 units for use by artists, designers and communicators. The architect was the Birmingham-based firm, [[Glenn Howells|Glenn Howells Architects]]. The first phase created around 300 jobs. On the completion of the Custard Factory project, an anticipated 1,000 jobs will have been created.<ref>{{cite book |first=Peter W. |last=Roberts |author2=Hugh Sykes |title=Urban Regeneration: A Handbook |publisher=SAGE |pages=68 |year=2000 |isbn=0-7619-6717-6}}</ref>

Phase one consisted of the refurbishment of Scott House which is now home to a community of media companies, artists and small creative enterprises. The loading bay was turned into a lake around which are set 200 studio workshops above ground floor level. On the ground floor itself are  meeting rooms, dance studios, [[holistic]] therapy rooms, a café and a record and clothes shop. In the foyer are art display cases with a larger gallery space at the rear. A huge iron dragon sculpture crawls up the exterior rear elevation. There are stages for musicians, DJs and rappers and a 220-seat theatre.<ref>{{cite book| last=Stratton |first=Michael |title=Industrial Buildings: Conservation and Regeneration |publisher=Taylor & Francis |year=2000 |isbn=0-419-23630-9}}</ref>

Phase two - originally named 'The Greenhouse', but now 'Gibb Square' after the Gibb Street location - was completed in 2002. It focuses on [[new media]] and media businesses and includes a hundred studio/offices plus galleries, restaurants and shops set around a central pool with fountains. The pool is sometimes emptied to allow for dance music events. The [[Green Man]], a {{convert|40|ft|m|abbr=on}} high [[sculpture]] by [[Tawny Gray]] made from vegetation and stone, overlooks Gibb Street.

===Zellig===
[[File:Custard Factory Digbeth.JPG|thumb|Devonshire House]]
In March 2007, the regional development agency, Advantage West Midlands, announced new funding of £9.6m for 100 new office and workspace units. The result was Zellig (former Devonshire House), a restored grade II listed building, which opened in May 2010 and features a new sculpture, the Deluge, by Toin Adams.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.steelsculpt.com/ |title=Toin Adams - sculpture, statuary, water features, public art, portraiture, steel, concrete and plaster. (Algarve, Portugal) |access-date=18 November 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110201213849/http://www.steelsculpt.com/ |archive-date=1 February 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref>