Construction starts this month alongside the East Coast mainline railway station on Forth Banks. Completion is scheduled for 2014.
The project involves the use of two existing buildings that will be refurbished and connected together by a new-build element. Accommodation being refurbished is the six-storey Kings House, converted to provide custody ancillary areas and office space, while an adjacent Grade II listed warehouse will be updated to house a 50-cell custody suite. A new three storey operations centre with an atrium will connect them together.
Willmott Dixon’s office on Tyneside will carry out the project for Northumbria Police Authority. Project director Andrew Mackintosh said, “We’ve worked closely with the architectural design team within Property and Design in Gateshead Council, Mott Macdonald, structural engineers, and Desco, building services consultants, with the aim of fully utilising local expertise. This team will deliver a part new-build, part refurbishment concept that meets the police force’s demands both operationally and on budget. It shows how existing urban accommodation can be successfully adapted and merged with new-build.”
The project was procured under the Scape framework, which ensures the majority of the project value is spent locally, with a minimum of 50% of the project value spent within a 40 mile radius and 75% within 60 miles.
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