Century-old part of Preston’s former Catholic College could be flattened for apartment block

The century-old building, which is behind Nos 33 and 34 Winckley Square and latterly housed the school's sixth form centre, will be bulldozed to make way for 36 plush apartments, if planners give the go-ahead.

The scheme is the latest put forward as part of the council's City Living Strategy to build more up-market residential accommodation in the heart of Preston. Already hundreds of flats have been created - more than 200 in the Winckley Square area alone - in a bid to revitalise the city centre.

Developer Branco Winckley Square Limited originally planned an eight-storey block, but scaled it back to between seven and five storeys after consultation with the city council and Growth Lancashire.

The existing structure, which stands just two storeys high and borders Mount Street, is not a listed building and the company says conversion to flats would not be feasible. So a demolition and rebuild project is seen as the only answer.

In a report to the council's planning committee, Branco says the current building, which houses a canteen, offices and storage linked to a neighbouring office block, “would require substantial investment to bring it up to modern standards and is unlikely to be suitable for ongoing employment use given the constraints of the building and wider site. The building would not be easy to convert to residential use given its narrow floor plate and the limited number of windows to the Mount Street elevation.”

It adds: "With the freedom to consider demolition and rebuild, initial discussions about how best to balance the site with both economical viability and planning feasibility, this led us to consider an eight-storey block with cascading terraces facing south over the River Ribble and beyond. Pre-application consultation feedback from Growth Lancashire resulted in a reduction from eight storeys to seven storeys."

Branco says new apartment blocks approved in the surrounding area - including the site of the former Catholic College gymnasium on Garden Street - only reach six or seven storeys tall and therefore the revised plans would fit in and "continue Preston's urbanised residential boom."

Preston's Catholic College, a Jesuit-run grammar school, was opened in 1865 and closed down in 1978 when its sixth form merged with two others schools to form Cardinal Newman College. At one time it occupied the whole of the west side of Winckley Square from its north-west corner down to Garden Street. Other buildings were added behind on Mount Street, including the former sixth form centre which was built in 1909 and is now one of only two remaining parts of the old college - 34 Winckley Street is the other.

Old boys of the school include ex-Preston and Liverpool footballer Mark Lawrenson, former Archbishop of Liverpool Patrick Kelly and cartoonist Leo Baxendale who drew the Bash Street Kids and Minnie The Minx in the Beano.

Branco's plans include the reconstruction of a footbridge linking the new apartment building with a five-storey office block on the site of what was the college's upper school at the rear of 33/34 Winckley Square.