Gaining consent for new high-rise city living in Preston

What we did

Working on behalf of Yates Capital, we submitted a planning application to convert a former office block, known as the Guild Tower, into one, two and three-bedroom apartments.

The scheme, designed by RPS Design Group, included significant improvements to the 1970s building which is located adjacent to Preston’s Guild Hall complex and close to the city’s famous brutalist bus station.

These included the introduction of a gymnasium and creation of an outside exercise and relaxation space for residents on the unused flat roof of the building’s first and second storey. This space would feature a running track, exercise equipment, green landscaping and benches. There would also be a co-working space and meeting rooms.

Under the application, the 70,000 sq ft concrete building would be remodelled in a dark and light grey coating to make it more visually appealing while a living green wall would be introduced on the exterior of the first and second floor on two sides of the building. 50 solar panels and a biosolar green sedum roof would be added to main roof to improve the environmental performance of the building.

The project involved working closely with the council’s regeneration team to come up a scheme that was aligned with the authority’s city living strategy and complemented other existing and proposed city living developments in Preston.

One of the challenges was the site’s location adjacent to the Grade II listed bus station. Careful consideration was made early in the design process to ensure the final proposal would not have an unacceptable impact on the building. This involved working alongside both the architect and the heritage consultant to ensure the final elevations would be supported on the submitted proposal.

Another challenge was ensuring the scheme remained viable. Following a viability assessment, we held detailed discussions with officers to demonstrate that the scheme should not be required to deliver on affordable homes or other financial contributions in this instance – something that would have threatened viability.

The planning application was approved by Preston’s planning committee in June 2024.