The Government Property Agency has appointed Wates to carry out the fit-out of 2 Ruskin Square at East Croydon, with the building firm undertaking to work with local youth and anti-crime groups while they are working on the project.
Home Office’s office: 2 Ruskin Square will accommodate 5,000 civil servants once ready for use later this year
Ruskin Square is the gateway, mixed-use development alongside East Croydon Station which developers Stanhope and financial backers, Schroders, have been working on for almost 20 years.
According to Wates, their task, is due to complete in September 2024: “The project will enable the Home Office to bring various functions together in one building for the first time in 30 years, moving civil servants from three existing locations in Croydon to one centralised hub.”
The move into Ruskin Square for Home Office staff is expected this year, with all workers currently based in Lunar House and Apollo House on Wellesley Road, plus one other Home Office building in Croydon, to be accommodated in the new building.
Lunar House is the 20-storey building, completed in 1970 by developer Harry Hyams, which for the past quarter-century has been the headquarters of UK Visas and Immigration service – making Croydon one of the main points of entry to this country for migrants and refugees.
The Stanhope-Schroders development of the nine-acre Ruskin Square includes a residential block, as well as Boozepark and 1 Ruskin Square, offices for HM Revenue and Customs which opened in 2017. Schroders sold 2 Ruskin Square last year for £267.6million to the Pension Insurance Corporation, with the Home Office already lined up as tenants.
2 Ruskin Square, Schroders said, has been delivered “on time and under budget, despite the challenges posed by the covid-19 pandemic”.
Building relationship: Government Property Agency’s Clive Anderson (right) and Wates’ Scott Camp are working together at 2 Ruskin Square
2 Ruskin Square is a a 330,000sqft building which is set to house 5,000 civil servants. It is being adapted specifically for public access, as it will provide new premises for the Visa and Immigration service.
Wates will be providing mechanical and electrical engineering, planned preventative maintenance and round-the-clock security services throughout the programme of works.
Scott Camp, the managing director of Wates fit-out and refurbishment operation, said: “Our continued partnership with the GPA represents our commitment to creating modern, sustainable workplaces where teams can thrive, and the transformation of 2 Ruskin Square will provide a centralised hub specifically designed for collaboration, bringing together previously separate business functions.”
Wates say that throughout the project, they will be involved in a series of initiatives in Croydon to support young and vulnerable people.
Wates has partnered with a local boxing club, Gloves Not Gunz, to refurbish the club’s facilities and offer work experience to members. Wates will also offer mentoring opportunities to Croydon Careers and through youth charity Lives Not Knives.
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Original plans for this area promised a new Warehouse Theatre. Does anybody know if there’s any chance of it happening?
There’s been no chance of that since around 2013, when the Tories at the council, including the now-Mayor, chose to spend the £1million grant from Stanhope-Schroders grant on an “improvement” to the Fairfield Halls.
We covered the scandal at the time.
Whatever the money was supposedly spent on no longer exists, either, so there is no community-focused, small auditorium theatre in the town centre any longer.
Shameless, inept, useless, pathetic – none of these even begins to cover it. You wonder how they sleep at night.