12 months ago Westmorland and Furness Council opened the controversial £8.5 million Voreda House council office in Penrith as its local Hub of the new council. A project started by the former Eden Council to create new single site headquarters for the former council that faced spiralling costs and multiple delays to the completion and has been plagued by issues since opening from toilets overflowing and not working with steel box portable toilets still housed at the back of the building, to a building described by staff as a freezer in winter and a oven in summer.
Westmorland and Furness council is now to spend almost £2 million on refurbishment and decarbonisation work to create another council office just outside Penrith at the council owned Redhills Conference and Business Centre to create a new sustainable workspace for council staff and visitors as a new council hub on the edge of Penrith the council plans to have delivered in a 24 week period.
The proposal once the work is completed will see the council relocating existing staff from various locations, including Cumbria Fire and Rescue HQ and Skirsgill Depot ahead of the works on the A66 Dualling. The services to be relocated include, but not limited to:
Westmorland and Furness Council also host Enterprising Cumbria on behalf of both Cumberland and Westmorland and Furness Council at the Redhill’s Building.
The almost £2 million council project includes the decarbonisation of the building through the installation of replacement windows and upgrades to mechanical and electrical systems including the installation of Installation of solar panels to improve energy generation. Removal of the existing oil-fed wet central heating system, to be replaced with a full air-source heat pump system.
The project also involves replacing an existing waste treatment system, as well as the strip-out and refurbishment of part of the office and conferencing spaces to create Hot desking spaces for staff working across multiple sites and refurbished spaces for existing tenants in the building along with occupational health facility treatment rooms to support health services.
The work will also see permanent workstations and flexible use for emergencies as part of the council’s emergency response strategy.
The total £1,859 million cost includes £1.652 million for delivery by the contractors including £0.335m contingency and project consultancy cost of £0.206 million.
A Westmorland and Furness Council spokesperson said: The council's Strategic Asset Management Strategy 2024-2029 sets out a clear mission to 'provide the right property, fit for purpose, in the right place both now and in the future'.
This project involves refurbishing Redhills Business Centre and relocating existing staff from various locations, including Cumbria Fire and Rescue HQ and our Skirsgill Depot.
Our strategy supports optimising the council's assets to support our vision and values. At present, Redhills is underused, with many areas left vacant by previous tenants. Now is the right time to incorporate a full refurbishment that will allow the building to be fully utilised, enabling the relocation of various 'back office' services into a modern office environment featuring workspaces, meeting rooms, and sustainability and decarbonisation measures.
The scope of works includes the decarbonisation of the building through the replacement of an oil-fired heating system with an air-source heat pump, replacement windows, solar panels and other essential upgrades. These improvements aim to modernise the building, enhance its functionality, and support our sustainability goals.
Additionally, the project involves replacing the existing waste treatment system, as well as the strip-out and refurbishment of part of the office and conferencing spaces to deliver workspace for staff across multiple sites, treatment rooms to support occupational health services and accommodation for teams responding to emergencies in our area.
Voreda House remains our main public-facing building in the Penrith area, where residents and customers can access a wide range of services including children's services, adult social care, housing, public health, trading standards and waste.
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