Plans unveiled to demolish huge office building once home to Northamptonshire County Council
Plans have been submitted to demolish long-standing vacant office buildings in Northampton and replace them with three large employment units.
The proposed development, off Bedford Road, would see the former John Dryden House and Lakeside House demolished to make way for new industrial and business space.
Northamptonshire County Council occupied John Dryden House for 23 years from 1994, with the building serving as a major office base for over 1,600 staff.
The application, submitted by Erdgard Developments, proposes three buildings for employment use, including industrial, storage and distribution, and office space.
The applicant said: "The proposals provide a redevelopment of former, now vacant and dated office buildings to high quality, modern employment units that will meet local and regional market needs. The proposals have been designed to be suitable to the site and make a positive re-use of the site in a manner, scale, use and design, appropriate to the local area."
The applicant added: “The ambition is to provide a mixture of new, market focussed, employment units to replace the redundant offices currently on site, and reinvigorate the wider site in line with local and national policy.”
The site, near Brackmills industrial estate, which was once home to hundreds of workers for various businesses, would deliver around 17,885 square metres of floor space across an 11.6-acre site.
According to plans, the existing office buildings have been vacant for an extended period and are no longer suited to current demand.
The plans include three units of varying sizes, each combining warehouse space with first-floor offices to meet a range of business needs, according to plans.
Planning documents show the wider scheme would include 355 car parking spaces, cycle storage and electric vehicle charging points.
The three buildings have been designed to fit within the surrounding area, with heights remaining below some of the largest nearby structures, according to the plans.
A decision on the application is expected by July 2.
Lakeside House was developed on behalf of Scottish & Newcastle Plc in 2000.
The wider business park is home to national and international companies including, Handelsbanken, Persimmon Homes, Redrow Homes, Shoosmiths and Macintyre Hudson.