Tameside’s vision includes new council HQ

Steel erection is nearing completion on Tameside Council’s latest regeneration project in the centre of Ashton-under-Lyne.

Known as Vision Tameside Phase Two, the project involves the construction of a new council office building, which will include a college wing, a public library, a Wilko store and a large rooftop public realm.

Phase One consisted of Tameside College’s new building, which opened in 2015 and is located across the road from the second phase.

Working on behalf of main contractor Carillion, Elland Steel Structures is fabricating, supplying and erecting 1,350t of steel for the project.

Being built on the site of the former Tameside Administrative Centre [TAC], which was demolished last year, the new building has been designed as one large development, albeit one that the council will share with other tenants.

Carillion Construction Manager Peter Beese said: “The deteriorating condition of the old TAC complex, which was built 35 years ago, meant it was increasingly expensive to operate. It would have cost around £4M to bring it up to standard, and it had become far too big for the number of staff now employed.

“It was simply not fit for purpose in the context of modern working practices and council service delivery. The new centre, which the Council will share with Tameside College, will be much cheaper to maintain as it is a modern building.”

The project consists of two five-storey wings that splay outwards in a V-shape on plan. The central space is in-filled by a single storey Wilko store, the roof of which will form the landscaped public realm.