Queen’s Buildings redevelopment primed in Rhyl

Plans for a mixed-use scheme led by a market hall and events space at the Sussex Street site are expected to secure approval next week.

Denbighshire County Council itself is taking the 2.3-acre Queen’s Market project forward, with shedkm engaged as architect.

Cushman & Wakefield is engaged as planning and heritage advisor, with the professional team also including Mott McDonald.

The proposals due before Denbighshire’s planning committee on 8 September include an application for full permission for the demolition of the Bright Spot building and 2-6 High Street; along with the erection of a food/market hall and multipurpose events space in linked buildings. An electrical substation is also included.

This part of the hybrid application also includes the retention and refurbishment of the Queens Chambers building fronting Sussex Street. Outline plans are also put forward for residential, office space and retail & leisure at the site.

The residential and commercial buildings are suggested at four to five storeys in a scheme that also includes open space. Plans could include 80 apartments and 62,000 sq ft of office space.

Rhyl Queens Market Int

The market hall could house 16 permanent units and six pop-up spaces. Credit: planning documents

The food half and events space are described as being housed in a two-storey pitched-roof building of “relatively simple modern design” and sit at the centre of the overall urban block site. The hall will host 16 permanent market stalls with the added potential of a further six units in the central space.

A dual fronted bar would also be provided on the ground floor, with a further bar space and seating facilities provided on a mezzanine level above. Alongside the food hall and events space would be a shared service core and the substation.

Welsh Government funding has been secured for the market hall and events space, which will be the first phase of the project to be delivered, along with the Queens Chambers revamp.

Now mostly derelict, the site formerly housed the Queen’s Hotel, Queen’s Theatre and Savoy Bistro. All parts of the site are under council control apart from the Bright Spot amusement arcade and 2-6 High Street. Demolition works started in January on most of the site.

Planning officers report that “the redevelopment of the site is a key part of the council’s regeneration strategy for Rhyl town centre.

“The regeneration strategy is guided by the need to reinvent the seaside resort town and reverse many years of decline. The strategy for urban transformation includes improvements to the public realm, economic incentives and the promotion of mixed-use development, building restoration and upgraded movement connections across the town.”

Reconnecting the town centre to the seafront is a central theme of the strategy, officers conclude.

Rhyl Overview

Denbighshire hopes to open up routes to the seafront through the site. Credit: planning documents

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