Plymouth’s bold vision to reinvigorate the Civic Centre has reached a crucial milestone with the full planning application now submitted.
The landmark looks set to play a crucial role in the regeneration of the city centre, introducing city centre living in an iconic building within its tower as well as create a new city centre campus for City College Plymouth to prepare the city’s workforce for the jobs of the future.
City College Plymouth will transform the lower floors and basement into a Blue-Green Skills Hub that will train up to 2,000 students every year across 60 different courses, ranging from apprenticeships to higher education and adult skills programmes.
Crucially it will be a vibrant, visible presence in the heart of the city centre encouraging people to explore, learn and connect.
The main focus will be delivering skilled people of all ages to serve industries such as marine engineering, renewable energy, and sustainable construction. The lower floors and podium will have a mix of educational and open space to inspire learners.
- Ground floor – the former reception – will be a public-facing space that is open, welcoming and connected to the city. It will have a careers hub, a sustainable bistro and restaurant, a wellness spa and a digital space with AR and VR facilities
- Lower ground floor – the former basement – transformed into a lively education space with six workshops for technical curriculum teaching
- First floor – classrooms for formal teaching.
Above the campus will be 144 apartments designed for a new style of city living that has not been available in Plymouth before.
The compact one or two bedroom flats strike a balance between respecting the building’s structure and heritage and modern living that is compliant with all the latest tall buildings legislation. The concrete ‘waffle’ ceilings, which have been revealed as part of the strip out, will be retained to create a stylish modern interior.
Other key changes from the original planning consent include:
- A new stair and lift to comply with latest fire regulations
- Replanning apartments to comply with national space and accessibility standards and a change to the mix of homes
- Greater retention of existing building to allow college to occupy podium levels and a clear subdivision of uses
- Active uses of lower ground and façade
- Mechanical ventilation of new homes
- Heritage sensitive design response to east and west façade replacement
- New stair and lift to bridge podium
- Investigate full public access approach to rooftop.
The whole area around the Civic will be re-landscaped to create welcoming, accessible public spaces, with new planting and seating – the pond beneath the link that connects the tower with the Council House will also be refurbished.
Councillor Mark Lowry, city centre champion, said: “I am so excited to get to this point. It’s a huge undertaking, but we believe it is worth it. The Civic was symbolic of the city’s post war regeneration and it is playing a leading part in our new vision for the city centre.”
Jackie Grubb, Chief Executive of City College Plymouth, said: “Submitting the planning application for the Civic Centre is a huge step forward for Plymouth and for the College. Our Blue-Green Skills Hub will transform the lower floors into a city centre learning space that prepares thousands of students for the jobs of tomorrow.
“This milestone brings us closer to creating a vibrant, visible presence in the heart of the city where people can explore, learn, and connect, while supporting industries that are central to Plymouth’s future growth.”
Planners will now consider in detail the application – which runs to around 1000 pages – and put together a report with their recommendations.
The project is currently funded to the tune of £47, 486, 361 with grants from several public sector pots, including Future High Streets Fund, corporate borrowing allocated in the Council’s Capital budget, Levelling Up Fund (LUF) Round 3 and Homes England Brownfield Infrastructure and Land Fund of £18,386,278.
This will see the completion of the shell and core works. City College Plymouth and a residential developer will further fund the project for the fit-out of the college and the residential space respectively.
The full planning application has been submitted and subject to validation will appear on the planning portal shortly.
