Apartments plan revealed for police HQ

Developer S2 has published outline plans for the West Street site

Plans to demolish and replace a police headquarters building with hundreds of apartments have been revealed.

Thames Valley Police is due to vacate its building in Castle Street, Reading, later this year.

Developer S2 is proposing a £110m retail and commercial development on the site, along with 260 residential apartments.

The force is due to relocate its Reading operations to Atlantic House in Whitley.

Reading Police Station was one of Europe's biggest when it opened more than four decades ago

Initial sketches on S2's website show the future flats being contained within one free-standing tower and four interconnected blocks.

S2 said “A planning application is being prepared for a comprehensive redevelopment to include 20,000sqft of retail and commercial space along with 260 residential flats.”

The existing police station was one of the biggest in Europe when it opened four decades ago but was deemed too expensive to run, with Thames Valley Police beginning a search for an alternative in 2012.

The force was meant to have moved into new offices at Atlantic House in Imperial Way in March last year.

However, preparation works were required before the move could be completed.

This was initially undertaken by contractors Midas Construction, which went into administration in January 2022, with the contract being passed to Willmott Dixon.

S2 is expected to hold a pre-application consultation in due course.

Thames Valley Police has been asked to clarify the status of the Castle Street headquarters and give a more precise moving date for its new HQ at Atlantic House.

No planning application has yet been submitted for the development