Demolition of Century House in Biggleswade could form part of town centre regeneration plans

Century House in Biggleswade could be partially or completely demolished as part of a blueprint for Market Square and surrounding area, with the town council willing to consider other uses for the site.

The historic town has a war memorial, a mix of retailers and service businesses, the municipal Century House building, as well as the central square hosting regular street markets, according to a renovation design brief.

Town councillors agreed at a council meeting on Tuesday (Aug 8th) to ask their officers to obtain quotes from urban designers to regenerate the area.

Market Square was last revamped in the late 1990s and is now in a poor state of repair, explained the design brief. “Century House was built as part of this work.

“The town council is aware it needs improvement, but a high-level vision and design for the wider central area must be established before individual elements can proceed.

“An experienced urban planner could explore potential future visions for Biggleswade town centre. The town council anticipates the designer will meet with it to refine the brief, after a procurement process.

“Several drawings would be produced by the design partner displaying options to remodel the town centre.

“This document is intended to provide an initial briefing to potential urban planners outlining the local authority’s high-level vision and ambition for Market Square.

“Overall, sustainability should be kept in mind. It would be unwise to plant trees until a future layout has been agreed, as this investment could be wasted if the location of newly planted trees was found to constrain the overall scheme.”

Several established trees were removed from the central area earlier this year, as these were damaging the paving surface.

“There are nine pillars for event power, street furniture, several trees and many benches,” said the town council’s design brief.

“Century House is largely unused internally and is a poor use of space except for bus stops which surround the building. It provides protected storage for market stalls and public toilets.

“The town council is willing to explore potential future uses of this site, including partial or complete demolition of the current premises. Century House is surrounded by several bus stops offering covered seating for passengers.

“With the completion of the transport interchange and its new bus stops at nearby Biggleswade railway station, buses are expected to wait there now, although services will continue to access Market Square.

“The town council has proposed that new bus stops are provided on the High Street, and the current Century House bus stops and the bus loop on Market Square are closed.

“An opportunity to discuss this proposal with bus companies or Central Bedfordshire Council has yet to arise,” added the brief.

“High Street bus stops must be conveniently located for shops, and their design shouldn’t impede journey times. Assuming the current bus loop is closed, the land this occupies would become available for alternative uses.”

Other areas covered by the brief include roads, pedestrianisation and paving, parking, events, landscaping and public toilets.