|
Construction firm Willmot Dixon has won a £28.5 million contract to build a new police headquarters in the centre of Newcastle.
The new facility will be located adjacent to the East Coast mainline station on Forth Banks and will see two existing buildings on the site converted and connected together.
The six-storey Kings House building will be transformed into custody ancillary areas and office space, while a neighbouring warehouse will house 50 prison cells.
Willmot Dixon will work with the architectural design team within Gateshead Council's property and design team, structural engineers Mott Macdonald and building services consultants Desco.
Andrew Mackintosh, Willmott Dixon's project director on Tyneside, revealed that the firm wished to benefit from local expertise for the project.
He said: "This team will deliver a part new-build, part refurbishment concept that meets the police force’s demands both operationally and on budget.
"It shows how existing urban accommodation can be successfully adapted and merged with new-build."
Construction is due to begin this month, with the project to be completed in 2014.
|