Final approval nears for £50m Blackpool civil service hub

8 November 2021 16:19 Dan Whelan Comments ()

Spanning 217,000 sq ft, the office building is earmarked to house 2,500 government staff once complete.

Having granted outline consent for the project in March, Blackpool Council’s planning committee is to meet next week to give final approval to Muse Developments for the scheme.

It is understood that the £50m hub, designed by Make Architects, will be the new home for civil servants already based in Blackpool, such as the Department for Work and Pensions and the Ministry of Defence.

Leases on sites around the Fylde coast currently occupied by the DWP and MoD are due to expire soon.

Speaking in the House of Lords in 2019, Baroness Jo Valentine said the departments “could be combined in a proposed civil service hub for thousands of jobs, which would provide year-round footfall for the local high street”.

The seven-storey civil service hub would be constructed on a 2.4-acre site bounded by Deansgate, King Street, Cookson Street, Charles Street and East Topping Street.

Talvot Gatewat Office, Blackpool, P.via Planning Docs

The orange façade is intended to mirror that of Blackpool Tower. Credit: via planning documents

The £50m office is to be clad in orange ceramic inspired by the base of the Blackpool Tower, according to the architect.

The scheme is being delivered by Muse as part of the Talbot Gateway. The wider project team features Avison Young as planning consultant, Chroma as project manager, Hannan Associates advising on MEP, Reform as landscape architect, and Arup as structural engineer. Arup is also advising on fire and transport.

Cundall and Hannan are providing support on sustainability and Peter Connell Associates is the access consultant. RPS is on board as quantity surveyor.

The scheme is the third phase of the council’s Talbot Gateway town centre regeneration project that has already seen the completion of a 125,000 sq ft Sainsbury’s supermarket close to Blackpool North train station, and a 120,000 sq ft office development, No1 Bickerstaffe Square.

In addition, contractor Robertson is on site delivering a 144-bedroom Holiday Inn hotel on the site of the former Wilko store. Nearby, John Sisk & Son is working to link up the promenade tramway with Blackpool North train station, creating an interchange building and terminus.