A huge office building in the heart of Bracknell is set to be converted into dozens of flats.
Columbia Centre in Bracknell to be converted into 80 flats
A six-storey office block in the heart of Bracknell is set to become dozens of flats after planning permission was granted.
The Columbia Centre, opposite the train and bus stations, currently houses Citizens Advice on the ground floor; the rest of the building appears largely empty and its website shows 14 units available.
Owner Columbia Bracknell Limited has won permission from Bracknell Forest Council to convert the building into 80 homes: 66 one-bedroom and 14 two-bedroom apartments.
Planning officer Simon Roskilly assessed the scheme under government rules that allow conversion of commercial properties into housing. A key concern was whether rooms would get enough natural light.
Mr Roskilly's report states: “The architect has designed the rooms in the apartments which adhere to the Building Research Establishment (BRE) guidance and the rooms and spaces achieve good levels of natural light and the use of sympathetic artificial light, ensuring that these rooms and flats will have a pleasant environment to be enjoyed.”
Developers also had to show future residents wouldn’t be badly affected by noise. A report from Sandy Brown, an acoustics, noise and vibration consultant, said: “ The dominant noise source was road traffic along The Ring and Market Street. There are no existing industrial or commercial noise sources that are expected to result in adverse noise impact on the occupiers of the proposed development due to the proposed change of use.
“The nearest affected noise sensitive premises have been identified and limits for noise from mechanical services plant associated with the development set in accordance with guidelines.”
Other matters covered included parking and possible contaminated land. The building has a 133-space multi-storey car park, above the minimum 72 spaces required for an 80-home town-centre development.
At the time of writing no contaminated-land concerns had been raised by the council’s environmental health team. The scheme was noted in a report to the planning committee in December 2025 but, because it was approved under permitted development rights, it was removed from the meeting agenda and no objections were recorded.
The approval is subject to planning conditions being met and to no objections from the council’s environmental health team. You can view the approved application using reference 25/00674/PAE on the council’s planning portal.
James Aldridge, Local Democracy Reporter
