Cheshire Constabulary headquarters

From Chester Wiki

[edit] History

The County Police Headquarters were designed by the county architect, Edgar Taberner (formerly of the oddly named Bradshaw, Gass & Hope of Bolton - who did design some pretty impressive buildings), and built between 1964 and 1967, at the astonishing cost for the time of over half a million pounds.

The first ten feet or so of the walls were of red sandstone and quite in keeping with Chester's architectural heritage. Above this reserved foundation perched what has been described as "a concrete monstrosity of the first order". The "sculpted" ends of this otherwise drab block were designed by W. G. Mitchell and were made by pouring concrete onto polystyrene moulds.

The design won a National Civic Trust award in 1969.

Architectural commentator Nikolas Pevsner wrote of the building:

• "Extremely objectionably sited, an eight-storey block immediately by the propylaea of the castle and turning towards it a windowless wall with an aggressive all-over concrete relief."

[edit] Changes

In February 1998, it was reported that the police intended to move out of their "crumbling" 30 year-old building, as it was "too cramped". The city force had confirmed a move to the site of the recently-demolished Arts Centre in Blacon and were looking for a location for a city centre base while their County colleagues wished to relocate elsewhere in Cheshire. It then emerged in 2001 that the County police would relocate to their new purpose-built headquarters at Woodford Business Park in Winsford.

There were two alternatives – either keep the building and refurbish it, or replace it. In February 2002, city council planners recommended that the eyesore structure be demolished to make way for a "prestigious" new development, Chester HQ.

[edit] Demolition

The County Police Headquarters was demolished in late 2006 - early 2007.

Watch the demolition video