7:10am Friday 6th August 2010
By James Maden
IT’S the first piece of the jigsaw in the transformation of Southampton’s cultural quarter.
Civic chiefs have taken hold of the keys to No 1 Guildhall Square, the new £25m home of Southampton City Council employees.
Standing six floors tall, the long glass windows at the top look over the wider regeneration of the Northern Above Bar quarter, soon to be home to a flagship arts complex worth £19m.
Staff were slowly beginning to make the move across to the sparkling new building which will house 260 desks across large open plan spaces and offices.
Centralising the council’s administrative operation, the move will mean the eventual closure of Frobisher House in September, Southbrook Rise in 2012 and finally Castle Way in 2014.
With two and a half floors taken by the council as well as the bottom floor housing the council’s Gateway service, the remainder will be rented by Capita who run the council’s IT.
Finance chiefs believe the move will save the public purse some £3.5m over the next 40 years.
Council Leader Royston Smith said: “It ticks all the boxes, it’s a great building, a good looking building, it’s a landmark of sorts and of course it’s part of this whole cultural quarter and the Northern Above Bar redevelopment so we’re very, very pleased.
“It’s also going give staff much better working conditions and it helps to let them know that we value them and that they are incredibly important to us.”
Peter James, managing director of Atlantic Property Developments, said: “We are extremely proud of this building and the partnership we have had with Southampton City Council.
“This is the culmination of a lengthy project and we’re over the moon with the end product and hopefully so are the council.”
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