This is how Sunderland's new £42m City Hall council building on Vaux site will look

Images have been revealed as Sunderland City Council presses on with the next stage of plans to construct its City Hall, which will see services and officers make the move from the crumbling 1970s building in Burdon Road to the other side of the city centre.

It has awarded the contract to build the complex to Bowmer and Kirkland, which has its North East office on Rainton Bridge Business Park in Houghton.

City leaders say they believe the designs, drawn up by architect Faulkner Brown which has previously led on developments including the Beacon of Light, are “impressive,” with the building set to be twice the size of its neighbour, The Beam.

Work is expected to begin later this year and be completed by autumn 2021.

The authority says it believes the plan will help “spearhead the regeneration” of the city centre and act as a catalyst to attract private investment.

Apprenticeships will be available on the project and it is estimated that £29million of the £45million costs will be spent in the local supply chain, with £9million spent with local small and medium-sized enterprises.

Bowmer and Kirkland plans to hold a meet the buyer event for local suppliers in the next few weeks.

The building is part of a £500million city centre vision which the council says will make it a place to be proud of, will create jobs and opportunities as part of a wider £1.5billion programme of investment across Sunderland.

The council added it will provide a new civic heart for the city, “allowing the smoother delivery of services by housing Sunderland City Council together with a number of other public sector partners under one roof.”

Council leader CounGraeme Miller said: "We're delighted that the contract to build City Hall has been awarded to a Sunderland based company, with all the benefits that brings with it in terms of local jobs created and money spent with local companies and in the local economy.

"City Hall is an essential element of our £500million transformation plans to create a dynamic, healthy and vibrant city centre that our residents will be proud of and will want to live, work and spend time in.

"It will help us deliver the step-change we know residents want to see in the heart of the city by spearheading change that will deliver more and better homes and jobs in the city centre, new leisure developments, a new railway station and better connectivity in the form of improved road links and a footbridge across the river connecting the stadium with the city centre plus a stronger daytime and night economy."

The council has previously said it would like the existing civic centre site to become a housing development.

Other developments built by Bowmer and Kirkland include The Word in South Shields, Newcastle University’s Urban Sciences Building and the Trinity Square development in Gateshead.

Paul Anderson, project manager, Bowmer and Kirkland, said: "We are delighted to be the main contractor on this important building for the city of Sunderland.

"This development will herald the regeneration of the city centre and will also encourage further development and investment, boosting the local economy."

City Hall will be the second building on the former Vaux brewery site following completion of The Beam in June.

The Beam is set to house health and safety training provider Penshaw View and online grocer Ocado, bringing 300 new jobs to the city.

Among other developments planned for the city centre include 120-room Holiday Inn hotel on Keel Square; a 450-seater auditorium, that now under construction in the city’s Minster Quarter; a new business centre in the former River Wear Commissioners Building as well as announcements in Seaburn of a Stack development and proposals for a pub with rooms from the Inn Collection Group.