A contract worth £550,000 has been awarded for renovation work on vacant office space at Stormont Castle, the headquarters of The Executive Office.
The work is to be carried out on the east wing of the former stables of the listed building, which was built in the 1830s.
A tender process for the work began earlier this year, with Draperstown-based contractor EDS Ltd being awarded the contract at the end of November.
The contract award notice states that the total spend to be incurred as part of the renovations over the next seven months is £454,000 excluding VAT, rising to £544,800 with tax included.
The notice says the work to be carried out is for ‘internal alterations to the east wing’.
A spokesperson for The Executive Office said the work relates to vacant office space within Stormont Castle, which serves as the administrative base for the offices of the First and deputy First Minister.
“Vacant office space within the Stormont Estate is being repurposed,” the spokesperson said.
“A contract for the work was signed on 24 November.”
The Executive Office did not respond to further requests for comment in relation to why the renovations were necessary, and what the vacant office space was being “repurposed” as.
The contract award notice specifically states the work to be carried out as: “Removal/installation of internal walls and finishes to suit new layout; replacement of internal and external doors; installation of internal security shutters and blinds; mechanical and electrical upgrades to facilitate new layout; installation of new floor coverings, ceilings and general repainting throughout.”
The spend comes in a week where it was revealed more than £500,000 has been spent on the refurbishment of the Blue Flax restaurant, used by MLAs and staff at Parliament Buildings in Stormont.
Stormont officials justified the spend on the restaurant renovation as it had not been substantially updated since 1998, and processes 72,000 transactions per year.
The Assembly Commission, the body which runs day-to-day business at Stormont, also revealed on Friday that scaffolding costs associated with the repair of a roof at Parliament Buildings had exceeded £200,000, and are currently costing around £9,000 per month.
A confidential court settlement was reached earlier this year after a legal dispute between the Assembly Commission and two contractors who had previously worked on the leaky roof.
The cost of making the “urgent” health and safety repairs was estimated to be £2.4million, but the Commission has not revealed how much of the figure would be funded by the taxpayer.
