A vacant office building in Reading could be turned into tribunal courts under an application from the MoJ.
The ministry has applied to Reading Borough Council for change of use of three-storey, 3,100 sq m Sovereign House in Vastern Road to become the new home of Reading Tribunals Court.
The 1990s building, initially home to Sovereign Housing Association, but later multi-let, was last used by Desklodge who briefly ran a co-working operation on the ground floor.
Under the MoJ proposals, the current use class E(g)(i) (office), will be changed to F1(g) (law court) with seven tribunal hearing rooms and 10 judicial offices. There will also be a judicial lounge, medical room, a claimants’ waiting room, respondents’ waiting room, seven consulting rooms, server room and a security office.
Externally the MoJ proposes a new ramped entrance to the west of the building for staff and judiciary use and modifications to the front entrance to create level access.
Tribunals are currently held at 30-31 Friar Street in Reading.
The team on the project includes Feilden+Mawson and Atkins Réalis.
Image: Google.
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