Local firms to the fore on Castle Street Chambers revamp
Hull developer Wykeland has started a £2m restoration project to revive the grade two-listed 1900-built former offices of steamship broker GR Sanderson in the city.
Castle Street Chambers has been unoccupied since the 1970s and has fallen into dereliction, supported by protective scaffolding for more than 20 years.
The project will also involve the reconstruction of the Earl de Grey pub, which was removed brick by brick in 2020 and placed into storage as part of the £350m A63 Castle Street highway overhaul. The pub, dating from the 1840s, is also grade-two listed.
The Yorkshire Demolition and Reclamation Company, based in Thorngumbald, East Yorkshire, was appointed to carry out the first phase of the restoration.
Hull-based Voase Builders, which has worked with Wykeland on redevelopments around Humber Street, won a competitive tender to carry out the restoration of Castle Street Chambers and the rebuilding of the Earl de Grey.
Grimsby-based ID Architecture has worked on design, planning and co-ordinating technical information, while LHL Group, which has a Hessle office, is employer’s agent on the job.
- Read Place Yorkshire’s Q&A with Wykeland managing director Dominic Gibbons
On completion, Castle Street Chambers will offer more than 6,000 sq ft of commercial space, next to the Connexin Live arena. Wykeland has liaised closely with National Highways, Historic England and Hull City Council to bring the restoration project forward.
Wykeland development director Jonathan Stubbs said: “Castle Buildings is one of the most complex and challenging restoration projects we’ve undertaken.
“Having been unused for decades, the building is understandably in a very poor condition. Since acquiring the site in recent years, we have worked hard to bring forward this project which is now coming to fruition
“That has included taking down the Earl De Grey before the A63 works, while retaining its listed frontage in order that it can be reinstated as part of this exciting development.
“In all of our restoration projects, protecting and enhancing heritage is at the forefront of our approach. That is certainly the case with Castle Street Chambers and the Earl De Grey.”
The first phase of the restoration will see the scaffolding removed from Castle Street Chambers, revealing the derelict building behind it.
Piling work will then commence at the site of the new Earl De Grey, before Castle Street Chambers is re-scaffolded for roof and window repair work, as well as general improvement to the brickwork.
A small single-storey extension will be built on the side of the building, before the frontage of the Earl De Grey is brought back to the site and reassembled, facing the Connexin Live arena.
The full restoration project, which is supported by Levelling Up Fund support amounting to £162,000, is expected to take around a year, with completion due in early 2025. The funding package was confirmed ibn December.
