£3.5m facelift for one of Sheffield's most prominent office blocks
One of Sheffield’s best known offices – 45-year-old Fountain Precinct – is being modernised with a £3.5m upgrade to make it more attractive to tenants.
The gold windowed building at Barker’s Pool - opened in 1974 and at one time the city’s only Grade ‘A’ block - is also having a new unit for a shop or restaurant on the ground floor.
It comes as 51-strong tech firm 3Squared prepares to move to the second floor to treble the size of its offices, creating space for another 50 people.
Other occupiers include Handlesbanken, 7 Legal and Finance, Aon Ltd, Quidco.
Eight-storey Fountain Precinct is owned by the Kames Property Income Fund, which last year bought another block, The Balance on Pinfold Street, for £15m.
The revamp comes as upmarket office space in Sheffield dwindles and new offices, in the council’s Heart of the City II, 4 St Paul’s on Pinstone Street and Vidrio on the Digital Campus remain on the drawing board.
Fountain Precinct is currently a third empty and Knight Frank and CPP have been hired to fill it.
The upgrade is set to be completed in May next year.
Karen Fox, co-manager of the Kames Property Income Fund, said: “We are delighted to be making significant improvements to the building for the benefit of current and prospective tenants.”
3Squared, which writes software for the rail industry, has hired 14 this year, doubled turnover in the last two and needs three more people by the end of 2019.
It is riding high after landing deals with tram builder Stadler, rolling stock and maintenance firm Bombardier this year and a five-year deal with freight company Freightliner in 2018.
3Squared helps firm digitise paper-based processes and track staff competency, qualifications and movements, called rostering.
Boss James Fox said: “We have been here seven years and we are now signing a 10-year lease downstairs. It’s a really exciting time and a big milestone for the team. It’s a great to be staying in the heart of Sheffield.”
Business engagement director Lucy Prior said in the future their products could be used in other sectors such as manufacturing.