The five-storey  building at Burton Street, Wakefield is backed by the English Cities Fund – a joint venture partnership between Morgan Sindall-owned urban regeneration specialist Muse Developments, Legal & General and the Homes and Communities Agency.

The 123,000 sq ft building, situated in the heart of Wakefield city centre, will include open-plan office space with a central atrium, extensive glazing and external rainscreen cladding with terracotta tiles.

Morgan Sindall is aiming to achieve a BREEAM rating of Excellent for the scheme through responsible sourcing of materials and reduction of CO² emissions through the mechanical and electrical design by introducing a biomass woodchip boiler.

The firm also aims to use local suppliers wherever possible, in addition to control and management of waste on site.

The concrete frame of the building will commence in October, following the completion of the piling and groundwork elements of the project.

The project is due to be completed in December 2011.

Emma Cordingley, development director for ECf, added: “We are pleased to appoint Morgan Sindall as contractor to build the new civic offices as part of the second phase of development at Merchant Gate.

“The new civic offices will be a tremendous asset to Wakefield city centre, the council and the residents of the city.

“Following the launch of the first phase of the Merchant Gate scheme last week, it’s great to see the scheme moving forward with work starting on the next phase.”

The first phase saw 66 flats built, alongside 35,000 sq ft of retail and leisure space and 48,000 sq ft of grade top spec office space.