Work due to finish in 2020

I9 railway drive view ion development

A new office building at the centre of the £150m revamp of Wolverhampton Interchange is set to be built by John Graham Construction.

Ion Developments appointed the Northern Irish contractor, which is part of the Graham Group, to build its i9 office scheme (pictured), which follows the i10 complex built by Balfour Beatty in 2016.

The scheme is set to provide 50,000ft2 of Grade A office space when completed in 2020.

The firm beat four others to the job with bids ranging from £11m through to £15m.

Plans for the redevelopment of the interchange, including i9 which received planning permission in May, were unveiled at French property show Mipim in March.

Wolverhampton council and the Liverpool-based developer, formerly known as Neptune, are behind plans for a new commercial district in the city which will see almost 93,000m2 of office space built across strategic sites within an integrated regional road, rail and tram hub.

Aside from i9, the strategic sites are Banana Yard, Cornhill, Steam Mill, Sack Works, Broad Street Hub and Urban Park.

Glenn Howells Architects, the firm behind Argent’s Paradise Birmingham scheme, is the scheme’s masterplanner.

In March, as part of the interchange’s makeover, Galliford Try landed a £19m contract to to revamp Wolverhampton train station. The job includes improvements to the ticket office, a larger passenger concourse, increased ticket barriers and better retail and cafe facilities.