City Hall is a municipal building in

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

Tyne and Wear Tyne and Wear () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North East England. It borders Northumberland to the north and County Durham to the south, and the largest settlement is the city of Newcastle upon Tyne. The county is ...

, England. It is located on the Vaux Site, adjacent to Keel Square, and was opened in November 2021. It is the headquarters of

Sunderland City Council Sunderland City Council is the local authority of City of Sunderland, Sunderland, a metropolitan borough with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in the ceremonial county of Tyne and Wear in North East England. It is one of five such ...

History

The new building was commissioned to replace the old Sunderland Civic Centre which had been the home of the council since 1970. The council estimated that it would cost £5 million to refurbish the old civic centre and therefore decided to procure a new structure instead. Construction of the new glass and steel structure started in November 2019. It was designed by FaulknerBrowns and built by Bowmer + Kirkland at a cost of £42 million. The development was financed by

Legal & General Legal & General Group plc, commonly known as Legal & General, is a British multinational financial services and asset management company headquartered in London, England. Its products and services include investment management, lifetime mortg ...

as part of a larger programme of investment in the city totalling £100 million. The design includes two office blocks, one of five storeys and the other of six storeys, connected by a glass atrium, facing onto St Mary's Way. The total area covered by the building is . The contractual arrangements envisaged some areas being made available to accommodate the housing provider, Gentoo, and the

Department for Work and Pensions The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for welfare spending, welfare, pensions and child maintenance ...

as well as Sunderland City Council. Progress was delayed by two months because of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

but recommenced in May 2020. However, the topping out of the building was completed by civic leaders in August 2020, and it opened to the public on 29 November 2021.

References

{{City of Sunderland City and town halls in Tyne and Wear Buildings and structures in the City of Sunderland City of Sunderland Office buildings completed in 2021 2021 establishments in England