Plans for new town hall in Whitechapel. Pic: Tower Hamlets Council

Construction company Bouygues UK Limited has been appointed to work on the new civic centre in Whitechapel for Tower Hamlets Council

The project will see the transformation of what was the biggest hospital in the country, Royal London Hospital on Whitechapel Road into a new town hall. The hospital was bought for £9m by the council after being vacated by Barts Health NHS Trust in 2012.

The renovation will retain the building’s grade II listed facade on Whitechapel Road. The new town hall will provide 26,700m2 of civic office space including an open-plan office space on the upper floors.

The entire ground floor will be dedicated to public use by offering an open accessible local presence atmosphere and will host meeting and shared spaces, a café and the council chamber.

The finished hall is also guaranteed to be environmentally friendly – there will be bike parking which can be accessed directly from the Cycle Superway, water-efficient toilets and showers, and an energy efficient heating system.

Plans for new town hall in Whitechapel. Pic: Tower Hamlets Council

Bouygues UK will be working closely with the council throughout the pre-construction stage of the project to fully plan, price and programme the refurbishment and construction works.

Fabienne Viala, Chairman of Bouygues UK, said: “We have an excellent relationship with the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, having built a number of schools across the area. It is great to be continuing that relationship by creating a new town hall that will provide a high-quality working environment for council staff and improved facilities for the local community.”

John Biggs, Mayor of Tower Hamlets, said: “We’re pleased to have appointed Bouygues UK to work with us to deliver a new town hall for the borough’s residents. We look forward to working in partnership with the company to develop our plans.”

Construction is due to begin later this year with a completion date of autumn 2021. The building is due to open in 2022.

This is part of the borough’s ongoing work to deliver the Whitechapel Vision Masterplan – one of London’s largest regeneration programmes which includes the opening of Crossrail at Whitechapel Station at the end of this year. The town hall will be located in the most accessible part of Tower Hamlets, alongside a new life sciences campus being created by the Barts Health NHS Trust and Queen Mary University of London as well as seven new public spaces and an estimated 5,000 jobs.