Construction and infrastructure firm Morgan Sindall has secured a �2m contract with Norwich City Council to carry out an extensive refurbishment of the City Hall building.

The deal, which is part of a transformation of the Grade II listed building aimed at improving efficiency, will involve carrying out repairs, window replacement and internal refurbishment of the building working with architects from NPS Property Consultants Ltd.

The project which is due to be finished by April next year, will involve the creation of a contemporary open-plan office space for council workers, with improved quality of light and more efficient use of the available space.

The Morgan Sindall team will be working in a live environment and construction work will take place out-of-hours, in order to avoid disturbing people working at the City Hall.

The development will also see around 20 people from the local area working on site at the peak of construction.

Gavin Napper, area director for Morgan Sindall, said: 'We are delighted to have been appointed to this project, which will see the Morgan Sindall team transform this remarkable building and deliver a comfortable, contemporary office environment, without losing any of the building's original features.

'Norwich City Hall is an important part of Norwich's architectural heritage and we are looking forward to bringing our experience in updating listed period buildings to this project.'

Built in 1938, City Hall is one of finest municipal buildings of the inter-war period in England and is one of the Norwich 12, a collection of 12 heritage buildings in Norwich deemed of particular historical and cultural importance.

Alan Waters, Norwich City Council's deputy leader, said: 'The refurbishment of City Hall is a 'spend to save' project. We are spending money on repairing and refurbishing the building so we can create more space and bring the majority of our employees into the building. This will save money on offices we currently use around the city.

'As the council's headquarters, City Hall's office space needs to meet the challenges of the 21st century and not just those of the decade in which it was built – the 1930s.

'We're pleased with the progress Morgan Sindall is making in helping to retain the proud prominence and dignity of one of the city's historic landmarks, while at the same time transforming some of the internal space so it is fit for purpose.'