A huge step forward has been made in Doncaster Council's £300m Civic and Cultural Quarter (CCQ) with Wates Construction's completion of the new £20m Civic Offices.

To mark the milestone, lead developer Muse Developments and Wates presented the keys for the striking five-storey building to Mayor of Doncaster, Peter Davies, and Chief Executive of Doncaster Council, Jo Miller, less than two years after construction on the project commenced.

Delivered at just £1,250 per sq m, the new Civic Offices will enable the council to efficiently merge many of its town centre services and teams under one roof. The project has included flexible office space for about 1600 council employees, a state-of-the-art Council Chamber and a convenient one-stop-shop for public services. To make the building highly accessible an adult changing facility features in the customer service centre.

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Many of the sites being vacated by the council will be redeveloped as the CCQ project progresses and this has helped fund the regeneration Masterplan, which is seeing significant private sector investment in the town.

Designed by Cartwright Pickard, the highly sustainable building is hoped to achieve the internationally recognised BREEAM Excellent rating and will mean that the council will eventually be able to realise annual savings of approximately £650,000 from not operating out of multiple inefficient and costly to maintain buildings.

Mayor of Doncaster, Peter Davies, said: "This is an important day for Doncaster as one of the core developments in the town’s Civic and Cultural Quarter is completed. The Waterdale area has been transformed in the last couple of years and the new civic offices, which anchor the scheme, will continue that impressive transformation. Doncaster has much to look forward to."

David Price, Business Unit Director for Wates Construction, commented: "Our delivery of Doncaster Civic Offices has been a particularly rewarding project for Wates. The vision has always been to create a development that will take pride of place in the Civic and Cultural Quarter and I am proud with what has been achieved – an efficient and striking building for the Council and members of the public to enjoy."

(CD/GK)