We are delighted to share that planning permission has been granted for a new multi-storey car park in Sunderland, following a Planning and Highways Committee meeting which took place on Monday, October 3rd.

The development forms part of the wider regeneration plans for the area and will be located on a currently derelict site on Holmeside in Sunderland City Centre. The new, modern multi storey car park will accommodate the increasing local demand for more parking spaces, whilst also providing a ground floor commercial unit. The car park, which will incorporate 404 spaces including accessible spaces and 92 electrical charging bays, will be a short walk from the revamped Sunderland train station, providing more parking for commuters, and will also be located to the west of Sunderland Museum and Winter Gardens, providing ample parking for visitors and shoppers in the City Centre.

The new car park has been part-funded by the Government’s Transforming Cities Fund (TCF), to support extra parking provision to support Sunderland’s new train station, which is currently under construction. The overall TCF package for Sunderland Station improvements and associated works is £16.3m.

With the ever-expanding shift to reduce individual carbon footprints, there is an increase in people who are opting for low carbon transportation methods such as public transport and bicycles. However, a huge problem that cyclists often face is that safe places to store their bicycles are hard to find. The new car park will help to tackle this issue by providing a safe and secure bicycle storage facility in the heart of City in close proximity to the newly redeveloped plans for the station.

Simon Rennison-Rae, Partner, and Lead Architect at GSS said, “We are pleased that the Multi-Storey Car Park at Holmeside has successfully achieved planning permission following unanimous backing from the planning committee. The new MSCP is another step and support in the wider redevelopment and regeneration plans for Sunderland City Centre, something which GSS are delighted to be a part of. It has been a great team effort to get to this point, with GSS working closely with Sunderland City Council and Project Managers, Turner & Townsend together with the whole design team, and we look forward to seeing the project progress further in the coming months ahead. For GSS, this marks a continued involvement in delivering for major public sector clients, such as Sunderland City Council and the University of Sunderland, as well as many others in the wider region, as part of the Practice’s rapid growth and success.”

We provided architectural services on this project for Sunderland City Council under Lead Consultant, Turner and Townsend, and alongside Jasper Kerr, Link MEP, S.A.J Transport, Centurion, and DPP Planning.