Armstrong confirmed on Penrith police move

Thomas Armstrong Construction has been formally appointed to deliver a £4.8m deployment centre for Cumbria Police.

The facility is to be delivered at the Kemplay roundabout, between the Penrith community fire station and the main Carleton Hall police HQ building, with five houses on The Green site formerly used for police accommodation being demolished.

Maryport-based Thomas Armstrong has been working on the project since the constabulary issued an “intent to award” notice to bidders in February, but the formal contract has now been agreed. Work has been progressing through the summer on site.

The new facilities will be part two storeys, part three storeys, and will include a deployment centre, conferencing facilities and hostel accommodation with 20 bedrooms.

The building will replace the Hunter Lane station, becoming a base for officers covering this part of Cumbria. Around 80 officers will transfer, although due to shift patterns, only around 15 at an average time will be based at the deployment centre.

The centre will, police commissioner Peter McCall has said, save the service money in the long term. The plan is to sell Hunter Lane, but operate a scaled-down “front desk” from a town centre location.

Reserved matters planning was granted in October 2017 for the project, which has been designed by Unwin Jones Partnership. UJP also designed the recently delivered Barrow police station, which was also delivered by Thomas Armstrong, a facility used by the Home Office design panel as a case study. UJP is also the firm behind several landmark projects in Cumbria, including the Rheged Discovery Centre and the Tebay East southbound motorway services.

Structural engineer Tweddell & Slater is also engaged on the Penrith project, along with transport planner Moda and landscaper Westwood.