Wigan’s Civic opens this weekend
Developer Capital&Centric and main contractor Workspace Design & Build have finished transforming the 1970s Brutalist block into 32,000 sq ft of modern workspace.
Work on turning the former Wigan civic centre into offices began last year. The building’s metamorphosis has included the addition of a miniature cinema, rooftop terrace, and café-bar Cotton. There are co-working spaces, private offices, and a variety of meeting rooms.
While distinctly “new”, the workspace has retained part of its original charm including waffle ceilings, corduroy-textured concrete walls, and its statement windows.
“Civic was built to make a statement, and we wanted to do the same with the transformation,” said John Moffat, joint managing director at Capital&Centric.
“It’s more than an office, it’s a proper community for people doing interesting stuff,” he continued.
“From the building’s Brutalist character to the vibe we’re creating inside, it’s a world away from your average workplace. Whether you’re going solo or building a team, this is a space where you can grow and connect with others doing the same.”
Support for Civic came from Wigan Council’s successful Town Deal bid, with the local authority partnering with Capital&Centric on the delivery.
Wigan Council Leader Cllr David Molyneux welcomed the news of the building’s opening.
“The opening of Civic marks a significant milestone for Wigan and represents real progress in the regeneration of our town centre,” Molyneux said.
“With its mix of modern office space and the publicly accessible Cotton, Civic is set to become a vibrant hub for businesses, creatives and the wider community.”
Wigan Pride volunteers will be the first to use the space. Civic will be a base of operations for the Wigan Pride celebrations this weekend.
Soon after, public sector-oriented tech company Agilisys will be moving in. The business has relocated its North West operations from Rochdale to Wigan, taking 4,400 sq ft on Civic’s second floor.
The project team behind Civic includes architect ShedKM, landscape architect Planit, building services engineer Crookes Walker Consulting, and structural engineer Civic Engineers.
Members of the project team spoke about the quirks of retrofitting an office at Place North West’s Offices + Workspace conference last year. At the time, Shedkm practice director Mark Sidebotham was asked how he handled criticism that Civic was ‘ugly’ by virtue of being a Brutalist building.
“Good design should not sit on the fence,” he said. “Something that sits on the fence is boring. This creates discussion.”
You can find out more about Civic by searching application reference number A/23/96412/FULL on Wigan Council’s planning portal.
2025 is proving to be a year of transformation for Wigan. In addition to the opening of Civic, work is well underway on delivering leisure venue STACK at the former Debenhams, Heaton Group’s £180m Cotton Works quarter, and the £135m mixed-use Fettlers project on the former Galleries shopping centre.
Amazing how things in Wigan Town centre get done so quickly and money is never an object. Yet other towns in Wigan struggle constantly to get anything off the ground. Bids for money for any number of vanity projects in Wigan Town centre are carefully constructed and invariably successful – yet it took 3 bids to get levelling up funding for towns in the Borough starved for years, of funding by Wigan Council. Just read that final paragraph and the eye watering sums Wigan Council has lavished on Wigan Town Centre whilst other towns in the Borough have received barely £20m between them. This is the Council that puts the refurbishment of a fusty old hall before the future and well being of its residents and those that fill its coffers. Shameful!
By Anonymous
@August 16, 2025 at 8:02 am
By Anonymous
What the localities need in Wigan MBC are new civil parish councils. Most of the outlying towns in Bolton MBC have these.
For Tyldesley CIC are doing great stuff mind.
By Rye
Wound be fascinating to see how the capital has been made up in this C&C deal. I.e have they any real capital at risk or are Wigan taking all the risk. If the latter, one assumes their return is just a DM fee. Wigan will have a few people looking for answers on where all the money has been spent in this and the Galleries.
By Anonymous
There appears to be no capital at risk from publicly available information. Capital & Centric were just project managers.
Wigan a cautionary example of how not to use funding for regeneration.
By BA