Plans unveiled for £8.2m Workington Innovation Centre
Digital technology and advanced manufacturing businesses would have access to around 12,000 sq ft of lettable office and workshop space under the area’s latest Town Deal proposal.
Cumberland Council has submitted a planning application to build the four storey Workington Innovation Centre on the Central Car Park site off Central Way.
Designed by Buttress Architects, the scheme would provide conference and meeting room space, as well as catering facilities alongside informal meeting areas. The space has been designed to be flexible and easily reconfigured to meet the changing needs of tenants.
In terms of sustainability, solar panels would be fitted on the roof and air-source heat pumps will be installed. The surrounding area would also be landscaped to improve biodiversity and tie the site to its surroundings.
The preferred operator for the hub is Oxford Innovation Space, which manages a number of similar facilities across the UK, with four in the North West. The organisation works with local authorities, universities, science parks, and investors.
It is intended that the innovation centre would become a distinctive focal point for the incubation and growth of entrepreneurial businesses, whilst addressing the lack of modern office accommodation in Workington.
Leader of Cumberland Council, Cllr Mark Fryer, said: “There is no supply of Grade A office space in Workington, which limits the town’s ability to attract and retain high-quality firms, and there is a poor supply of small units for early-stage companies or in-movers looking for amounts of modest space.
“There is also a limited supply of co-working space”, he continued.
“The aim of this initiative is to resolve this, as well as re-energising Workington town centre by attracting increased footfall and expenditure.”
Plans form part of Workington’s £23.1m Town Deal projects.
In March 2021, it was announced that the town had been successful in securing a share of the government’s £486m Towns Fund. This funding was split into five projects, one of which is Workington Innovation Centre with an £8.2m share.
The business case for the scheme was agreed by the council’s executive last March.
John Coughlan, chairman of the Workington Town Deal Board, said: “Anything that will deliver benefits to the business community in Cumbria is good news and I am very pleased to see the innovation centre scheme reach this planning milestone.
“I want to see more manufacturing opportunities, more creativity, more entrepreneurship, and more business growth in this county, and beyond, and this initiative by Cumberland Council will deliver all of this and more.”
Other Town Deal-funded projects include an improved community sports and leisure facility in the lower Derwent Park Valley and an improvement programme, which will see revamped connections from the railway station to the town centre.
Morgan Sindall Construction is the main contractor for the innovation centre. Also on the project team are Virtual Planit, Mott MacDonald, OFR Consultants, SCP, Layer.studio, and MZA Acoustics.
Want to learn more about the plans? Search for application number FUL/2023/0191 on Cumberland Council’s planning portal.
