Next phase of Capital&Centric’s transformation of Wigan’s disused Civic Centre underway

Work to overhaul Wigan’s disused Civic Centre is one step closer, with the formal appointment of a main contractor.

Developer Capital&Centric, working in partnership with Wigan Council, is on a mission to create standout workspaces across Greater Manchester’s towns with the quality and design usually reserved for the city centre.

Now it can be revealed that Workspace Design and Build has been appointed as the contractor tasked with transforming the 1970s building on Millgate into sustainable, high-quality workspaces.

The team wants the new space, dubbed ‘Civic’, to be a hub for innovation and collaboration. The workspace community will have areas to hang out and work in and the scheme as a whole will be packed with facilities from a gym and mini cinema, to chill-out lounges and a relaxing roof terrace. Exposed concrete inside will be framed by lush new plants and trees. There will also be spaces for the public to enjoy, including a new café bar complete with a spill-out terrace for when the sun’s shining, as well as outdoor seating spots along Millgate.

Civic is also set to feature a raft of sustainability features such as smart, high-efficiency lighting to reduce energy consumption, electric vehicle charging points and cycle storage to encourage active travel and improve air quality in Wigan’s centre. The introduction of the gardens and planting will also see biodiversity at the site increased by over 500%.

Capital&Centric is planning to protect and restore as much of the original modernist structure as possible. Work started last November to strip out the unusable fittings, as well as to carefully remove fixtures with no architectural merit, from plasterboard and flooring tiles to light fittings.

Planning approval for the building’s reboot was granted earlier this year and Capital&Centric isn’t holding back on getting the project completed. The plan is to get it all done in one phase so that businesses can get in and start working together as soon as possible.

The first Civic workspaces are expected to be available as early as summer 2025.

John Moffat, joint managing director at Capital&Centric, said:

“Civic is already creating a buzz and will be the coolest office development the town has seen. Wigan Council has done a brilliant job landscaping Millgate and our refurbishment of Civic completes what is starting to feel like a new quarter for the town. It’s only a few metres from the busy Standishgate so businesses looking to locate here are getting all of the amenities that the town has to offer right on their doorstep. The building is going to be a huge part of Wigan’s regeneration story and I’d urge anyone looking for office space in the town to get in touch.”

Councillor David Molyneux MBE, Leader of Wigan Council, welcomed the latest milestone, adding:

“It’s fantastic to see things moving on this exciting project with the appointment of the building contractor. I’m certainly pleased to see such an iconic and important building in Wigan’s history get a new lease of life and look forward to next summer when the first workspace opens.

“This is an exciting time for our town with a list of regeneration projects breathing life back into Wigan.

This redevelopment will bring this iconic building back to life, and create a modern and sustainable workplace of choice in our town centre. This is an innovative project to restore an old building, give it a renewed purpose, and ensure it is fit for the future.”

This isn’t the first time the companies have worked together. Workspace Design and Build is currently in the final throws of restoring Capital&Centric’s Grade II listed Neptune Mill in Manchester into creative workspaces and its new HQ.  

As part of its commitment to social value, the contractor has committed to providing tenants with expert advice for the first 12 months on the sorts of issues that small businesses and start-ups can face, such as financial advice and business operations.

Businesses considering locating to Civic are encouraged to register an early interest online at: https://www.capitalandcentric.com/civic

Famed for its restoration of historic buildings such as Crusader in Manchester, Weir Mill in Stockport and Eyewitness Works in Sheffield, Capital&Centric recently announced its biggest project to date – delivering 2,000 homes for the UK’s largest new town, Northstowe in Cambridgeshire.