The Department for Work and Pensions had to evacuate staff from its new £100m Blackpool hub after a part of the building became detached from an upper storey and crashed to the ground by the front entrance.
DWP has only been based in the seven-storey Fylde View building for a matter of months, after officials relocated from nearby Warbreck House and Ryscar House last year. The service and support centre is part of Blackpool’s wider Talbot Gateway regeneration project.
Drama unfolded at the town-centre base, capable of accommodating 3,000 officials, when a piece of external cladding fell from the structure yesterday morning.
No-one was injured, but the incident prompted safety concerns and staff were led out of the building, which was subsequently cordoned off.
DWP confirmed in a statement that Fylde View had been closed for repair work and further investigations after material above the entrance “became loose”.
“The contractor is on site, and the building remains closed,” a DWP spokesperson said today.
“Action will be taken over the coming days to ensure the safety of the site before staff return.”
The department said staff have been asked to work from home or been redeployed to other sites.
It added that DWP customers should not be affected as the hub does not offer face-to-face contact with the public.
Images posted on social media suggest the item that became dislodged from the building was one of the long vertical slats that provide shade to the section of Fylde View that has floor-to-ceiling windows.
Fylde View was delivered by Blackpool Council in partnership with regeneration specialist Muse and main contractor Vinci Building.
It was named the best new office in Lancashire at the North West Regional Construction Awards last year.
At the time, Blackpool Council cabinet member Mark Smith said Fylde View had been one of the “most ambitious” builds in the seaside town since the construction of its famous tower.
Last summer, staff at a newly-built DWP office in South Wales were forced to work from home after upper storey windows fell out and shattered. The PCS union said the Ty Taf office, at Nantgarw near Cardiff, had been plagued by safety issues since opening in 2020, with issues including flooding, fears about electrical safety, doors failing to open, and toilets and lifts being regularly out of order.