Remaking Barnsley

Westgate Civic Offices

This five-storey building now makes a major contribution to Barnsley’s programme Remaking Barnsley, and has environmentally friendly features including biomass heating and rainwater harvesting.  It accommodates some 800 staff from the Environment, Development and Finance and Property directorates.

Westgate Plaza One is an embodiment of the council’s modernisation programme, supporting new ways of working to boost productivity and helping to achieve efficiency savings. Westgate Plaza One provides a flexible, healthy and stimulating working environment, said the council’s Chief Executive, Phil Coppard.

Westgate Plaza One sets high design values and is tangible proof that higher quality, sustainable development is now the standard for Barnsley, as set out in our urban renaissance agenda, Remaking Barnsley, Mr Coppard added.  

Vacating existing properties such as Central Offices and County Way has helped free-up valuable space for other developments within Remaking Barnsley including the Digital Media Centre and the forthcoming Barnsley Markets project - a £180 million investment in the future of the town centre over a 10-acre site. Overall the current cost of accommodating staff in offices dotted around the town centre has been reduced.

The location of desks and employee facilities was carefully planned to promote an atmosphere of common purpose among staff, he said. This has played an important part in boosting productivity. The needs of employees with disabilities were also considered in the design of handrails, doorways, corridors, lifts and stairs. The council also introduced electronic document filing, which has been complemented by less expensive off-site storage and retrieval of existing paper documents.

As a forward-thinking council, Barnsley recognised the importance of sustainability, Mr Coppard said.  As a result, Westgate Plaza One is 25 per cent more energy efficient than the council’s older offices.

Low-energy and environmentally friendly design features incorporated in the building include rainwater collection from the roof, from where it is disinfected, filtered and used for flushing toilets and handwashing and low-cost, energy efficient wood-chip fuel for heating. When burned wood puts back into the atmosphere only the carbon dioxide it absorbed when growing; it is therefore carbon neutral, unlike coal, oil or gas.  The externally fitted solar-shading grills transmit enough daylight to save artificial light and reduce the need for artificial cooling and natural ventilation creates a greater sense of wellbeing, so the design includes openable windows.