Town Centre News

Contractors appointed to construct Council building

Posted on 11/05/2010

 Rochdale Borough Council has appointed the contractors who will build its new offices, customer service centre and public library on Smith Street in Rochdale town centre.

Sir Robert McAlpine will start construction on the riverside site in early 2011 once VHE have completed remediation of the site, which will get underway in the next few weeks.

The landmark building, due to be completed in 2012, will provide open plan office accommodation for around 2,000 staff from the council and its partner organisations. It will also include a ‘one-stop’ customer service centre and a state-of-the-art public library.

The current municipal offices and bus station will make way for a £100 million plus retail and leisure development. The new office building will be on the opposite side of the river to the new transport interchange, and close to the planned Metrolink stop.

John Patterson, Executive Director at the council, said: “This is a really exciting step forward. Both of these companies have excellent reputations and we’re already working with them to ensure we stay on track to deliver what promises to be a great building that serves Rochdale people and council staff for years to come.”

Sir Robert McAlpine is now liaising with the council’s design team on the external design of the building, which the public gave their views on last September. The final design will be unveiled this summer.

Local suppliers will have the opportunity to find out what contracts are available in relation to the development of the building, at a special event at Rochdale Town Hall on 15 July. For further information please contact the council’s Corporate Procurement team on 01706 925479 or e-mail Corporate.Procurement@Rochdale.gov.uk