Crown Buildings refurbishment “well underway” with promise new community hub will “reach out to everyone of all ages”

Large scale refurbishment works of council-owned office space in Wrexham town centre is described as being “well underway”.

Crown Buildings is set to become home to a modernised work space and a new community health and wellbeing facility

The four storey building, on the Bodhyfryd site, was built in the 1960s and has been described as “no longer fit for purpose” – with a “number of leaks” in recent years with staff “decanted” elsewhere due to the issues.

Asbestos has also been removed ahead of refurbishment works taking place.

However as part of the refurbishment works the ground floor of the building will be turned into Wrexham’s new ‘Community Health and Wellbeing facility.’

With the help of funding from the Welsh Government, the space will provide integrated health, social care, third sector and community services.

The aim is to make it easier for people, families and carers of all ages to access information, advice and support.

Wrexham’s Community Health and Wellbeing facility is a partner project between Wrexham Council, Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board and AVOW, and will “build on, rather than duplicate” services that are already available in Wrexham town centre and other local areas.

The space will act as the central location for a range of accessible facilities, allowing people and families with wide ranging support needs to become more involved with community services as well as having easy access to preventative information and advice.

The facility aims to form links with other agencies and support routes in order to provide a range of information, advice and support for people, families and carers.

Cllr Andrew Atkinson, lead member for children’s services said: “This is a really exciting project which will benefit everyone in Wrexham. It will provide better access to professionals for the public and a more flexible and agile approach to provision.

“Children and families will also benefit from better access to improved facilities in a town centre location, promoting equality by ensuring that people with specific needs can access the same town centre facilities as all other families.”

Karen Evans, assistant director community services, Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board – says the development of the Community Health and Wellbeing facility in Wrexham will provide new opportunities for people to access health and wellbeing information, advice and services in a holistic way.

“We are delighted to be working collaboratively to design the environment and service offer within the facility and look forward to providing health and wellbeing services here in the near future.”

As part of the plans the upper floors of the building would be “refurbished to provide flexible office accommodation with open plan areas, individual offices, meeting rooms and break out spaces, designed to accommodate modern working methods.”

This will include a base for social care staff helping to deliver children’s and adult’s services, as well as becoming the new location for the council’s education and early intervention department.

Cllr Joan Lowe, lead member for adult social care said: “Wrexham’s Community Health and Wellbeing facility will be a great addition to Wrexham Town Centre, it will provide support for people who need advice or information about a wide range of topics.

“It will make it easier for people to access information and advice in one place as well as providing a site where partner organisations can work seamlessly together to give the best possible care and information to anyone who needs it.”

Cllr John Pritchard, lead member for people, youth service and anti-Poverty added: “This is a fantastic collaboration project and the services delivered will reach out to everyone, of all ages, in Wrexham. The building will also make these services much more accessible.

“It’s very exciting and I can’t wait to see the services improving people’s lives in the area.”

Externally a number of changes are taking shape, including the creation of a new main entrance to the building. This is located at the north of the site and accessed from the Waterworld car park.

A small extension is also being built to provide café facilities for visitors to the building. Along with a “feature” public realm space planned to the north of the building “to draw people in off Chester Street and reinforce the pedestrian route round to the new main entrance.”

The roof area will be used to house an array of photovoltaic panels, which will further improve the building’s carbon footprint through on-site renewable energy production.

Once complete the building will be brought up to an estimated ‘B’ rating which should mean a significant reduction in carbon emissions and performance “comparable” with many new build projects.

Cllr Mark Pritchard, leader of the council and lead member for assets said: “This new Community Health and Wellbeing facility will make it easier for people, families and carers to access information, advice and support.

“The design proposals are important as they will significantly improve the building’s energy performance, with the focus being on a ‘fabric first’ approach to improve the overall thermal efficiency of the building envelope. There will also be photovoltaic panels on the roof area to reduce carbon emissions and further improve the building’s carbon footprint.

“It’s an exciting project which will have a positive impact on the community and transform the old building into a space which will make a difference to the lives of people living and working in Wrexham.”

The works will take up to 18 months to complete with Wrexham Community Health and Wellbeing facility hoping to be open to the public in early 2022.