VIDEO | Milestone for Oldham’s Spindles revamp
Around 100 council staff have moved into new offices within the former shopping centre, the first phase of the 450,000 sq ft redevelopment to complete.
Scroll down for a video showing off the new council offices
Oldham Council has relocated staff into around 8,000 sq ft within former retail space on the upper floors at Spindles Shopping Centre.
“It’s great to see our redevelopment of the Spindles taking this significant step forward,” said Cllr Amanda Chadderton, leader of Oldham Council.
“We’ve been talking about these works for such a long time, but now the new offices are here, open, and already breathing new life into the shopping centre.”
Various council and partner teams will now trial the space over the coming months to inform the design requirements for the next phase.
The Spindles redevelopment will see another 87,000 sq ft of office space created out of units previously used for retail, including the former Debenhams.
Once all of the offices are complete, more council staff will make the move to Spindles, relocating from several locations around the town.
This will release sites including the civic centre on Rochdale Road for redevelopment, while also saving money and reducing the council’s carbon footprint, according to the authority.
As well as office space, Spindles – which the council bought for £9.5m in 2020 – will feature a 50,000 sq ft market hall adjacent to the Town Square shopping centre, replacing the TJ Hughes unit.
Tommyfield Market units will relocate to this space, which will also include a food hall.
A 33,000 sq ft event space and rooftop terrace will also be introduced, with trading hours and programmes aligned to the food hall.
Part of the mall and car park will be reused as an archive space, accounting for a further 12,500 sq ft.
The Spindles project, designed by Aew Architects, is part of a wider town centre regeneration vision.
Oldham Council is seeking a development partner to help it deliver a £550m transformation of the town.
The vision includes plans for 2,000 homes, 600 of which could be on the civic centre site.
