The original interchange was built in 1929 as a bus depot by
Midland Red, which was later converted into Digbeth Coach Station. Successor company
Midland Red West used the coach station as a base for its Birmingham and Black Country operations. The original building was dark and dingy as it was not originally intended to serve passengers as a coach interchange. Plans were initially developed for a new coach station on Great Charles Street, as Digbeth was considered by National Express to be an "undesirable" location. However, after the completion of the new
Bullring and the planned
Eastside redevelopment, it was decided to demolish the old structure and build a new coach station on the same site. However this option was abandoned in favour of a competing design by SBS Architects. The final
planning application for the design by SBS Architects was submitted on 29 October 2007. It was officially reopened on 18 December 2009 by the then
England national football team manager
Fabio Capello. The new station has been awarded a
BREEAM 'Excellent' rating. ==References==