A FUTURISTIC council headquarters is set to be demolished next week (November 3) after the fight to save it was lost.

Chester-le-Street Civic Centre, offices of the now-defunct Chester-le-Street District Council, won several awards when it was built in the early 1980s.

The distinctive steel-framed aluminium and glass structure was in use until late last year when Durham County Council, which took it over in 2008 following the county’s local government shake-up, opened a customer access point in Front Street premises shared with Cestria Community Housing.

Demolition was due to start earlier this year but was postponed after conservationists asked English Heritage to designate it a Grade II Listed Building.

The 20th Century Society’s bid was rejected by English Heritage, which said the building was not sufficiently important.

Architect Neal Taylor, a partner at Newcastle-based Faulkner Browns who spearheaded the campaign to save it, said: “It is a landmark building in terms of civic architecture.

“Obviously circumstances have changed politically now, but it seems such a shame. It is very sad.

“When it was designed the (district) council were very keen to make a change from the traditional civic offices and wanted to be seen as modern, current and transparent.

“The design was around a public street where the public could have a coffee and all the workings of the council were on display – there was nowhere to hide. It was the public’s building as much as anybody else’s.

“The council wanted people to feel comfortable coming in as opposed to being treated on any form of secondary level.”

Clare Price, conservation advisor for the 20th Century Society, said: “The society thinks this is a really important example of post-modern civic architecture.

“We were really upset to hear it was slated for demolition so we applied to English Heritage to have it listed.

“Sadly, although they agreed it had certain merits, it didn’t quite meet the criteria, which is a particular shame.”

Stuart Timmiss, the council’s head of planning and assets, said: “Following confirmation that English Heritage does not feel that the building merits listing, and considering the significant ongoing maintenance costs of a building that is no longer fit for purpose, work on the demolition of the civic centre will begin on Monday.”

Demolition will take ten weeks and the car park will remain open. The site has been allocated for housing.