Newark & Sherwood District Council Headquarters

Following the successful completion in 2016 of the of the new Newark Sports and Fitness Centre and Newark Palace Theatre Refurbishments, R G Carter successfully completed Newark Sherwood District Council’s new flagship HQ office on the busy Great North Road, Newark, next to the Newark Castle Railway Station.

The building is a piled, steel framed construction of three storeys in height, and has a Gross Internal Floor Area (GIFA) of 3674 m2. The works also comprised the external areas and utilities connections as part of the build. The Council’s primary objective driving the move to new offices was building a sustainable future, thereby reducing carbon emissions and saving public money.

The Council moved out of the Grade 1 listed, Kelham Hall and into this fit-for purpose, efficient accommodation which is shared with a number of public sector partners, estimated to save up to £500,000 a year in maintenance, utility and other costs.

A significant feature of the design is the extremely lightly engineered building services, which takes advantage of the thermal mass of the building, so natural cooling is achieved through blockwork masonry and the concrete slab. This provides an extremely cost effective construction cost in addition to low costs in operation.

Local businesses saw the benefits of Castle House with 80% of the construction spend being made within a 45-mile radius of the site and a large workforce operating close to the town centre. R G Carter employed 37 sub-contractors, three apprentices and five new staff members in the 17 months leading to completion of the build.

We also got involved with a recruitment fair at Newark Sports and Fitness Centre, which we constructed in 2015, where three other appointments were made.