A former primary school in Preston could be flattened to make way for apartments – more than 65 years after its gates closed for the final time.
St. Mark’s Primary School, on Wellington Street, is thought to have shut in the late 1950s. The building was later occupied by John Fenton Engineers, but has been home to Heckford Advertising since 1990.
The marketing firm is planning to move to a larger base in the city and a proposal has been drawn up to demolish its current premises and build two, three-storey apartment blocks on the site.
If approved, a total of 21 flats would be created across the two buildings, with the same number of off-street car parking spaces also being provided, along with three bike sheds. At least 30 percent of the units would be offered as discounted ‘affordable homes’ in order to meet local planning policy.
According to documents submitted to Preston City Council planners on behalf of Heckford – which is seeking permission for the redevelopment – the “traditional” design of the proposed blocks would ensure that they “fit in with the surrounding dwellings and will not have a detrimental impact on the [nearby] heritage assets or the existing street scene”.
Those heritage assets are the properties that make up the neighbouring Wellington Terrace – a Grade II-listed row of homes dating back to 1850 – and the former St. Mark’s Church, on the opposite corner of the junction between Wellington Street and St. Mark’s Place East. The Anglican place of worship, which is Grade II* listed, closed in 1982 and was itself converted into flats a decade later.
The former school is not a protected building and has been extended over time into a commercial facility across three floors.
The design of the new apartment blocks – the rear of which would sit at a lower level than its matching neighbour – reflects “important characteristics of the surrounding properties”, according to the planning application, and the overall footprint would be “no different to what is there now”.
The proposal adds that the “scale, form and height” of the buildings is considered to “respect and reflect the character and appearance of properties in the wider area”.
