Developer breaks ground on £100m Blackpool office building

Work to build a £100m, seven-story office building which will house 3,000 civil service workers in the centre of Blackpool is now underway.

The 215,000 sq ft building is a key part of the resort's £350m Talbot Gateway regeneration plan, which also includes a new 144-bedroom Holiday Inn hotel set to open later this year

The scheme will generate significant new footfall to the area, boosting trade to local businesses, retailers, restaurants, cafes and leisure facilities, alongside a wealth of new job opportunities for local people.

Coun Lynn Williams, leader of Blackpool Council, said: "It is fantastic to see this development start on site and is a great start to the New Year. Throughout the pandemic we were determined to push on with our regeneration of Blackpool and it is really exciting to see so much of our vision for the future coming to fruition.

"This physical generation for the future of our town is critical, but most importantly it means more jobs for local people and more money in local people’s pockets through a huge increase in footfall and spend in our town centre.

“This is the third phase of the Talbot Gateway development we have now delivered in partnership with Muse and we are pleased to welcome VINCI Building to that partnership and are looking forward to working with them and the social value benefits they can bring to our town through this contract."

The new building has been designed by architects Make to BREEAM Excellent standard, which means it will operate on low energy and promote both sustainable development and wellbeing.

The construction process will incorporate a range of sustainable methods to reduce carbon intensity to 800 kgCO2e/m2 compared with 1100kgCO2e/m2 for a typical office development.

The building itself will feature high levels of insulation and air source heat pumps to provide low-carbon heating and cooling. Demand-driven ventilation will improve indoor air quality, while at the same time allowing energy savings during times when the building is not occupied.

Gary Bowker, regional managing director at VINCI Building, said: "VINCI Building are so pleased to be involved in the exciting regeneration of Blackpool town centre. The development of such a significant Grade A office in the town centre will significantly increase daytime footfall once completed and will undoubtedly benefit local businesses over the long term.

"Low energy and low carbon design and material choice has been at the heart of decision making and this will result in a truly energy efficient, low carbon building that we can all be proud of. It has been a real team effort through the pre-construction phase, and we look forward to this continuing on to site.”

Blackpool Council and Muse have worked together before, delivering the 125,000 sq ft Number One Bickerstaffe Square council office, a Sainsbury’s supermarket and a refurbished 650-space multi-storey car park.