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LEICESTER | Former LCC New Walk Centre site (NEW WALK PLACE) | Completed

106K views 639 replies 48 participants last post by  Leicity82 
#1 · (Edited)
Has been changed to discuss the future redevelopment of Leicester City Council's former New Walk Centre Site.

There are now five options for new city council office according to this Leicester Mercury report (30/12/2010):

Leicester City Council looking to spend £30m on new city centre headquarters

By jenny ousbey, political correspondent

Leicester City Council is looking to spend £30 million on a new city centre headquarters, a leaked report reveals.

That is the minimum cost suggested by officers looking at options to replace the crumbling New Walk offices.

An unpublished report suggests either keeping one block at New Walk and demolishing the other, or buying or leasing an existing office. It is understood the most popular option is to move staff out of its New Walk HQ and into another city centre building – with the Leicester Mercury offices, in St George Street, a possibility.

The council was forced to consider moving after engineers found its offices needed strengthening to ensure their safety.
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Councillor Ross Grant, leader of the Conservative opposition, criticised the amount of money likely to be spent.

But council leader Veejay Patel said he was looking for the best deal for the city.

An unpublished report seen by the Mercury sets out five options.

All involve "neighbourhood working" – moving some workers into smaller council offices across the city, instead of 1,400 staff working from a central base.

Councillor Patel said: "We will be looking for the best deal for the city and there will be no compromise on that.

"We'll hopefully be in a better position to discuss this within the next four to six weeks.

"Given that we are already going through a budget process knowing we have the accommodation strategy and cost of that to deal with, it's been very tough financially."

All of the options presume a final workspace half the size of the existing council HQ, with 25 per cent fewer staff.

The five scenarios are:

*Spending about £50 million on strengthening and refurbishing A and B blocks at New Walk and keeping one other council-owned building for staff – likely to be Phoenix House, in King Street.

*Building new offices on the site of the Dover Street car park for just over £40 million.

*Spending about £30 million on buying a building in the city centre.

*Refurbishing and strengthening A block at New Walk and selling or demolishing B block, at a cost of £30 million.

*Demolishing or selling A and B block and building a replacement on the same site, at a cost of approximately £40 million.


A council source said it was doubtful A and B blocks would be sold and that demolition was the most likely way forward.

Coun Grant said: "I'm concerned about the costs of all the options and that we don't seem able to find a cheaper way of doing it.

"We should be looking to find an existing office space and move into it without the need for refurbishment."

Previously, a spokeswoman for DMGT Property, which owns the Mercury offices, said that while the building was not for sale "the company would consider reasonable offers".

The council has a total of £58 million available to sort out the issue of its headquarters.

The report will be discussed by cabinet members next month.
See: http://www.thisisleicestershire.co....0m-new-HQ/article-3049578-detail/article.html

Personally I'd prefer the council to move and leave the current site for a major new development.

As for the site chosen for a new build (Dover Street), it's is abit out-of-the-way, although it is closer to the train station.


Leicester City Council's New Walk Centre (background) and Phoenix House (foreground)
 
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#2 ·
I think they should buy St. Georges Tower. At least that way it'll come to some use!

I like the New Walk council buildings, if they were to stay there I think they should do something to the exterior of the building. It's got a nice design, just a little bit outdated
 
#7 ·
If the Council had any sense and ambition they'd build themselves a new building in the cultural quarter. It wouldn't need to house all their staff, but it would get some much needed vitality into the area.

I had a feeling that the Council Houses were listed? With a good re-fit they could be very nice offices - the views from the upper floors are wonderful. I'm rather suspicious of how bad the structural failings are.. Why aren't they insured? I know local authorities are incredibly risk adverse, but I really can't believe the buildings are in that bad shape.
 
#9 ·
Agreed; and will it really cost £50million to strenghthen and refurbish ?

Why don't the council actually ask the citizens about what sort of council building they want ? (like they do with so many other important issues)

Personally a reclad (and the all important strengthening ???????) of a & b would be my preference , a tall curving building is as iconic as you are going to get !

Anything else i fear would be just ordinary.
 
#10 ·
This debate has really wound me up.

I think we have all known for awhile that the city council HQ is in need of a major repair and therefore it is right to debate the merits or otherwise of 1. A full refurbishment 2. Relocating to vacant office space elsewhere in the city centre 3. Build a new HQ.

Imagine my shock to discover that the council have considered taking over the Mercury building wtf!!!!! (check diary, no it isn't April fools day). Then I read about some other limp and lifeless ideas. The current council leader Mr Patel seems like a nice guy but boy is he an administrator without an ounce of enterpreneurialship. He couldn't lead a scout pack let alone a city of our size.

Looking at the merits of the three options:

1. A full refurbishment - I am in the camp that the current New Walk HQ is a fine building albeit a building of its time that is looking more than a little dated. Read lack of capital maintenance. Its choice as a HQ (to me anyway) illustrated an ambition and statement about the city at the time, it is a building not to be ashamed of. I would therefore not object to a full and sensitive modernisation.
2. Relocate - Again not a bad option if the choice is a building that is currently not in use and is fit for purpose. I.e. the right location, accessible with ample parking provision. Why then in heavens would the Leicester Mercury building come into the equation, if I am not mistaken the Leicester Mercury is still being produced at that very same building. Why would one go to all the expense to relocate the mercury staff to then move the city council staff in, I am staggered by the idea. It is an okay building (following its refurb) but it still does not strike me with civic pride when I drive past
3. A new build - Imagine a building that speaks volumes for the soaring ambitions of the city. Every major city in the world builds civic buildings that its citizens can and are proud of.. This would be a major catalyst for re-development in the city and would send the message to investors and developers alike that Leicester is ready to kick on and move forward.

But what do we get? - A council and bunch of so call leaders that are so lacking in ambition and imagination that all we hear on this subject is them moving to some other shitty 70's office building that would never pass muster with any government department or other corporate business looking to relocate. Those arseholes hold true to the oft mistranslation of Semper Eaden "same shit nothing changes"......... :bash::bash::bash:
 
#11 ·
"All of the options presume a final workspace half the size of the existing council HQ, with 25 per cent fewer staff."

I think we should be looking the other way. The New Walk blocks are seriously a danger to the staff at present, hardly a day goes by without more minor shedding of concrete into the car park underneath. So a replacement is needed. But The Council has its core workers spread over a significant number of other buildings at present. Why not take the opportunity to relocate most of them into a new HQ and sell of the smaller buildings? Many staff can be located out to the neighbourhood housing offices, although space is limited in some of them.

St Georges Tower is not on the list of options but could be sneaked in under the buying another building option. It has several advantages, not least being big enough for the staff. There is easily enough room for a large visitor centre, something lacking at the Council at present (the current one is far too small and crowded). The Council do not even have to buy it, the Adminstrators would not turn down an anchor tenant on a long lease.

If the Council decide on a new build there are better sites available to them. The Maplin site at the top of Humberstone Road, next to the New Phoenix is owned by the Council. A new build there would help kick-start the regeneration of that area, as envisaged in the old LRC master Plan.
 
#12 ·
^^^^
Some good points abbeyman.

Perhaps a workable option would be to demolish B block Keep and refurbish A block.

Would i be right in thinking that the underground carpark is the where the structural problems lie. Perhaps to make A block stronger, the car park needs to be filled in with concrete.

A block would then provide enough office space for the reduction in staff, and the space created by knocking down B block could be used for a multi storey car park to replace the underground parking.

A new iconic building on the Maplins site, does though seem an attractive option.
 
#14 ·
I'm all for the council spending millions on a brand new (and hopefully Iconic) building to house their HQ, but i'd also be sad to see the current one go. I know it has structual issues and could do with a reclad but it's a fantastic sight on our skyline and I for one will miss it.
 
#15 ·
I'm obviously the only one here who absolutely hates Block A and B New Walk... Possibly through working in them for a while, but they are simply ugly ugly buildings, which create a horrible wind tunnel along Welford Road. The highlight of working there was the old lady who used to do a poo in the precinct at the same time every day... Possibly a protest against paying council tax, I'm not sure...
 
#16 ·
I don't like Block A and B either. Mainly due to the loss of the fine building they replaced and also because they are crap. Look good from a distance though...

Don't remember poo woman, but there used to be a shouty woman who wore bin bags and hung around the area.
 
#17 ·
I still think that with a smart reclad they'd look great - they're unique and shouldn't be discounted so easily. Yeah so they're a little blocky, and yeah they're a nasty shitty brown colour - but that could be easily solved and just look at all those windows!

Think about all of the 1960's tripe we have, these two blocks are perhaps some of the best from an era that gave us little but cheap pre-fabricated grey concrete eyesores.
 
#19 ·
Good to know Bin Bag Lady is still knocking about.

Anyone remember Magic Mirror Man from the Victoria Park area? He used to look in mirrors up at the sky. He ranted once about Japanese planes. This was about 16 years ago, so he might have moved on in one way or another...
 
#20 ·
Yes, I remember the Mirror Man (or Banger Man as my younger sister called him). We lived on Victoria Park Road and he would wander along banging his stick contraption against a particular lamppost. Then he'd make his way up to the Victoria Park pavilion. He had thick lensed glasses and a hearing aid with loads of dials on it that made strange buzzing noises. This would have been at least 20 years ago.
 
#27 ·
No, you're right. It is King St and it is Holy Trinity church. The perspectives from the old photo and your link on Google Streetview are slightly different though. In the old photo you would have to imagine you are standing next to Pizza Express / Willie Caines sandwich shop. The building just beyond the Wolsey building, on the corner of Marlborough Street, is still there (you're 'standing' right next to it when you click on your streetview link for example).

Unfortunately you can't get the exact same perspective on streetview because, for whatever reason, it looks as though Google didn't photograph the 50m stretch of King Street between the juction at Wellington Street and corner of Marlborough Street!
 
#31 ·
Had the Wolsey building not been knocked down to be replaced by the "block from hell"

Would there be the same feeling if the building was a new build on a vacant peice of land ?

I would have liked to have seen the Wolsey building today (it's lovely) and i do agree that the 60's/70's planners only in hindsight were destroying the character of the city (i'm sure they didn't think so at the time)

However to call the building a peice of crap is just plain ignorance and snobbery.

BTW I used to work on the 12th floor (Volunteer for the Living History Unit) and would often nip down to the planning library on the 8th floor. Great building to work in with great commanding views of the city that we served.
 
#33 ·
just looking at that picture again, does anyone know/remember if the wolsey building filled the whole council office site, curling round to welford road...

just wondering, as that would mean that it would have cut across the end of New Walk and also would have had to displaced Phoenix house


http://cdn.wn.com

which looks, if anything, older than the wolsey building?
 
#38 · (Edited)
just looking at that picture again, does anyone know/remember if the wolsey building filled the whole council office site, curling round to welford road...

just wondering, as that would mean that it would have cut across the end of New Walk and also would have had to displaced Phoenix house

which looks, if anything, older than the wolsey building?
Would love to see a photo of the Welford Road facade of the Wolsey building.

Old maps suggest the building followed this configuration...



Didn't realise the statue of Cardinal Wolsey now in Abbey Park, was once located at the King Street factory...
 
#34 ·
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