• Swindon & Wiltshire Property
• Tuesday August 29 2023
• Author Name: Peter Davison

Swindon Borough Council looks to expand Carriage Works

Swindon Borough Council is looking to move ahead with the next stage of its regeneration of the Carriage Works.

The council has asked its own planning department for permission to conduct survey works of West Shed B with a view to bringing it back into use.

The Carriage Works were opened by the Great Western Railway in 1876 adjoining the railway station, and were once the largest railway carriage works in the country.

Carriages were constructed on the upper floor, which was level with the main line. Machinery was situated on the lower floor.

When British Rail closed the railway works in the 1980s the buildings were left dormant, but in the last decade the Grade II listed buildings have been brought back into use.

Renovated buildings are now occupied by Work Shed – an incubation hub for start ups – the Royal Agricultural University, Bath University’s Innovation Centre for applied Sustainable Technologies, and film and media company Create Studios.

Now the council wants to conduct fabric, geo-technical and asbestos surveys in Shed B. Writing on behalf of the council, Laura Eimermann at planning consultancy Turley said: “The proposed scope of survey work at the West Shed of the Carriage Works is proposed to enable the detailed design to be progressed for the next phase of regeneration, that will seek to restore the listed building sensitively and bring it into a more viable use.”