Preston's Union Carriage Works transformed into city’s first loft apartments and offices

Keeping its original industrial features, Etc Urban Developments has redesigned the late Victorian carriage works in Guildhall Street and created 18 apartments in the style of urban lofts.

Director of Etc Urban Developments Neil Thornton said: “The Union Lofts are complete and the wait is over. All 18 loft apartments are unique and we are extremely happy with the quality and style.

“It’s taken a lot of vision and belief to have converted a forgotten 123-year-old warehouse, that had been left abandoned for decades, into a stylish residential scheme that is now a flagship development for Preston.”

The new homes, now known as The Union Lofts, sit above 4,000 sq ft of industrial chic ground floor space.

The former carriage and auto car manufactury was built in 1897 by Preston carriage builder James Walmsley & Co and named The Union Carriage Works. Now the original name has been restored to the warehouse style building.

It sits in the heart of the Winckley Square Conservation Area, but had laid derelict for decades despite being just 150m from Fishergate.

Etc Urban says it is one of the first historic buildings in the city centre to be reinvented for the 21st century and forms a leading part of Preston’s City Living Strategy for the next decade, which aims to see similar, high quality residential schemes across the centre.

The whole project has been designed by Chase Architecture, whose head architect, Philip Thornton, was one of Sir Terence Conran’s chief designers for 15 years and is one of the UK’s leading urban residential architects.

Work on the three, two and one bedroom apartments was carried out by Manchester-headquartered Workspace Design & Build and includes a secure basement car park for owners and residents.