PICTURED: Latest stage of £750m transformation of Birmingham's New Street
Rising in the city centre skyline - this is the view of a revamped shopping centre, part of a £750 million project which also features the transformation of Birmingham's New Street station.
Contractors are working around the clock on the scheme to ensure it opens in September.
It includes a brand new shopping centre called Grand Central, which will feature a huge 250,000 sq ft John Lewis store, the largest outside of London.
There will also be more than 40 shops and 20 new cafes and restaurants as part of the scheme.
The shops will surround an atrium-roofed concourse for the railway station, which has been created out of the former Pallasades shopping area.
The roof was placed earlier this year, but in recent months the covering has been taken off to reveal the floors below.
Workers have also been demolishing the former centre's two floors to bring in more light for the interior, which will serve as a concourse for the new station.
A piece of equipment called a mega munch has been used to crush the concrete floors, as opposed to drilling which could have a caused noise disturbance to the station.
Network Rail is leading the project. A spokesman said: "With the atrium roof structure complete work continues to remove 6,000 tonnes of concrete to create the stunning new atrium which will provide natural daylight into the concourse at Birmingham New Street.
"Much of one of the two floors to be removed has been demolished using a purpose built piece of equipment, known as the Mega Muncher, which allows the concrete to be crushed rather than drilled, a much quieter method which has less of an impact on the station and the surrounding area.
"The redeveloped Birmingham New Street station and Grand Central, the city's newest shopping destination, will be completed in September 2015."
More than £600 million has gone into regeneration work to improve the station and a further £150m to transform the Pallasades shopping area into Grand Central Birmingham.
The work has been carried out in two phases to enable the station to remain open to passengers.
Most of the retail spaces in the Grand Central have been taken, with retailers Fat Face and Joules set to join the 250,000 sq ft John Lewis.
The project is backed by Birmingham City Council, Department for Transport, Network Rail and Centro.
