Consent due for Preston Markets Quarter
Preston City Council is set to approve proposals from Muse Developments for a £50m cinema-led leisure scheme in the city centre when its planning committee meets next week.
Muse is working in partnership with the council on the plans, made up of an 11-screen cinema operated by The Light, seven family restaurants, a 593-space multi-storey car park and public realm improvements.
The project forms part of the wider regeneration of the Markets Quarter which includes the full refurbishment and redecoration of the grade two-listed market canopies and the construction of a glazed Market Hall.
Under Muse’s plans, all existing structures on site would be demolished with the exception of the existing Lancastria House Art Deco façade.
The scheme would see the construction of a large main building with a wing attached to the façade, which would accommodate an ‘experience’ cinema screen within a drum visible above the front of the building.
A new public square is planned to the south of the development, which would link to the 1875 market canopy to Lancaster Road.
Frank Whittle Partnership, working alongside Greig & Stephenson, is the lead architect for the markets element of the scheme, restoring the current structures and creating a new marketplace.
For Muse’s cinema element, the lead architect is Benoy.
Preston’s planning committee is due to meet on Thursday 10 November.
