Plans submitted for Wigan’s ‘best workspace’
Dubbed Civic, Capital&Centric’s redevelopment of the former council offices on Millgate is aimed at attracting start-ups to the town centre.
The developer, which is working in partnership with Wigan Council, has submitted an application to upgrade the 1970s Wigan Civic Centre.
C&C is planning to keep the modernist concrete façade and refurbish the internal space.
“The bones of Civic are beautiful, but it’s long overdue a refresh,” said Sabine Dunstan, development manager at Capital&Centric.
“Impactful design doesn’t have to be the preserve of core city centres. We want entrepreneurs to see that they can have design-led, creative and social workspaces beyond the centre of Manchester. Doing so will help both retain and attract exciting businesses to Wigan, creating more job opportunities based in the town centre for decades to come.”
The 32,000 sq ft project will also feature a coffee shop with outdoor seating, gym, mini cinema and cycle storage available to tenants. A rooftop terrace is also proposed.
“We’re planning to keep and celebrate all the original concrete detailing, but make it hands down the best workspace in the town centre and wider region,” Dunstan added.
“We’re planning to frame it with lush planting and new outdoor spaces where people can hang out in the summer, with new gardens that will really animate the whole, currently boarded- up, street.”
Internal strip-out work is already underway. It is expected that works could get fully underway in spring 2024, with the first businesses able to move in in summer 2025.
While I’m always happy to see any investment in Wigan Town Centre, and I’m usually on board with saving historic architecture, I think this would have been better as a new, ground up build instead of ‘saving’ this concrete monstrosity.
By The Wiganer