Royal London pushes on with Wilmslow offices
Detailed approval is sought for 180,000 sq ft of new-build space at the insurance firm’s former campus off Alderley Road.
AHR Architects and planner Avison Young are advising the Royal London Mutual Insurance Society on obtaining reserved matters consent for the project, which will see close to 183,000 sq ft of space built out, in four three-storey blocks.
Two larger buildings are proposed at 63,000 sq ft each, with the two smaller buildings of around 28,100 sq ft apiece. Outline consent was secured in 2020.
Also in the professional team are Randall Thorp, Tyler Grange, Gardiner & Theobald, ROC Consulting Engineers, Hilson Moran, CBO and BWB Consulting.
The application relates to a 15-acre plot east of Royal London House, and outlines plans for four three-storey buildings. As viewed from Alderley Road, the buildings will be situated at the rear of the site, closer to the mainline railway and A34 Pendleton Way bypass.
If approved, there would be 1,100 parking spaces, of which 55 would have EV charging points and 22 would have disabled access.
Seeking reserved matters approval for the office development represents a further move forward for the campus, which was vacated by the insurance business when it moved to Alderley Park in 2021, a move revealed by Place North West in 2017.
Story Homes is advancing 54 homes on the opposite side of Alderley Road, a site sold by Royal London to the Cumbrian housebuilder, while a further consent for 120 homes bordering the offices site was refreshed last year.
Great to see this redevelopment and the new homes!
By MC
1,100 parking spaces but only 55 electric charging bays? Wow. Where is emphasis on sustainability rather than unsustainable, short-term proposals.
By JS
Regarding the 55 EV charging points another contributor commented on, clearly that’s a number which can be increased upon should it be necessary if demand requires. Besides which not every vehicle will need to charge while parked …consider how frequently it’s necessary to fill the fuel tank of an ICE vehicle, maybe once a week for typical users; an EV is no different.
By Roger
I agree with JS re EV charging points. A large number are plug in hybrids so need more frequent charging. Given sakes increases it would have been logical to fit at least 10% of spaces with chargers to support their use.
By RW
Plug in hybrids only make sense if you charge them at home overnight. These will be aimed at topping up BEV,s . As long as there is infrastructure to increase the number quickly this is probably enough for now, but two, three years from now the number of ev’s is going to be exponentially greater like it or not.
By Anonymous
Electric cars are rubbish, combustion engines are here to stay
By DH
People in Cheshire are so obsessed with cars it’s really cute
By Anonymous
In response to Roger: sadly it’s not a simple case of putting more EV charging bays into the scheme over time. Ideally the capacity in terms of electricity has to be there from day one, or at the very least space allowed for further sub-stations and infrastructure embedded to allow for the additional electricity to site. Anyone who has retro-fitted EV bays to offices or existing developments will know the pain of this.
By JS
I would expect the developer is putting the minimum number of EV Chargers in initially. If there is much higher demand for these they’ll just get a 3rd party provider to come in, lease some earmarked spaces, install the infrastructure and operate. It makes perfect financial sense especially as they’ll have at least one sub-station only feeding the 55 EV Chargers; they aren’t cheap and nobody wants to put sub-stations in unless they are absolutely necessary and not based on “maybe more people will start driving EV’s but we don’t really know because the National Grid couldn’t actually handle it”.
By Extinct Logic