BHS conversion takes shape with frontage revamp

Stockport Council is pushing on with its redevelopment of the former department store in Merseyway, which is being divided into four units.

Planning permission is sought for elevational changes to deliver modern shop fronts at 22-34 Merseyway, and the removal of a canopy at 18-20 Merseyway. AEW is the architect for the scheme.

Work to reconfigure the store’s interiors are ongoing, in what Stockport’s cabinet member for economy and regeneration Cllr David Meller described in December as an “important strategic project” for the town.

Although the planning statement submitted by advisor CBRE said that prospective tenants have not been confirmed, it has been previously reported that JD Sports and Poundland are lined up to take two of the four units, Poundland already trading from the ground floor of 22-34 Merseyway.

The store sits within the Merseyway shopping centre acquired by the local authority in 2016. The store itself was acquired by Stockport in 2019.

The frontage design consists of a double height feature frame. The existing façade pnels and glazing is to be removed and replaced with a new cladding system and curtain wall glazing, in line with the wider Merseyway refronting strategy. The new frontage will wrap around the building to the Deanery Way elevation.

At the Prince’s Street elevation, access is to be reconfigured to correspond with the internal alterations and the creation of the new A and B units. The remainder of the Deanery Way elevation is to be repaired and cleaned, including the set of 1970s concrete relief murals commissioned by BHS – an application to have these listed was rejected in 2016.

Stockport intends to refront the 1960s storefront in line with its Merseyway refronting strategy