Architects appointed to design the refurbishment of key central Winchester building
Coitbury House, in central Winchester, is set to get a fresh lease of life with the help of newly-appointed architects practice Henley Halebrown.
Winchester City Council tendered for an architect to develop designs for modern, office accommodation that reflects the vision for the area and the building’s prominent position within the city centre, as part of the Central Winchester Regeneration.
The 1960’s building, which has been vacant since 2014, will be refurbished to create 10,000 thousand square feet of high quality office accommodation. The designs will be flexible to enable the building to react to market forces by being let as a whole or to multiple tenants. This may include adding a floor or extending the building (subject to design and planning approvals).
Leader of the Council and Chair of the Central Winchester Committee, Cllr Caroline Horrill, said:
“I am delighted that within a few months of the Supplementary Planning Document for the area being finalised we are in a position to get on with refurbishing Coitbury House. It follows our refurbishment of the former Antique Market into The Nutshell arts venue which opened last month.”
The architect’s brief was developed in conjunction with an advisory panel, set up by the Cabinet (Central Winchester Regeneration) Committee as part of its ongoing engagement with stakeholders and the community. The Panel, which includes Members, Officers and the City of Winchester Trust, also met the shortlisted architects before offering their feedback as part of the appointment process.
Henley Halebrown has undertaken many office refurbishment and extensions and broader adaptive reuse projects across the UK, including those of a similar scale to Coitbury House.
Co-founder of Henley Halebrown, architect Simon Henley, who lives in Winchester, said:
“As a Winchester resident, I am well aware of this building’s significance within the wider regeneration plans in the city and so I am very excited by the potential of this project and delighted to be a part of this important step in the area’s redevelopment.”
Cllr Horrill added:
“I am looking forward to working with Simon and his team to ensure we get a careful and intelligent renovation of this significant building.”