Resi proposal lodged for Warrington
Developer Chesro has put forward outline plans for 40 apartments next to Warrington’s BT exchange.
The site, currently in use as a surface car park, sits between Wilson Patten Street and Stanley Street. The eight-storey block will house two three-bedroom apartments, 10 two-bedroom apartments and 28 one-bedroom apartments, with 1,200 sq ft of commercial space on the ground floor.
Chesro, a Grappenhall-based family firm with experience of development and refurbishments in the Warrington area, is the developer of the project, advised by County Planning. Dove Architecture is the project designer.
The site sits close to the Palmyra Square conservation area, and the application follows two years of pre-application discussions for the site, covering design, scale, massing and appearance. A previous application from Chesro for to build a five-storey office block at the site was consented in 2010 and refreshed three years later, but never advanced.
County Planning’s design & access statement declares that “this application seeks to relieve the dominance of the BT exchange by providing a building which mediates between the lower-height buildings within the conservation area, ties in with the two areas with appropriate materials and reduces the visual imposition of the telephone exchange by providing an attractive and well-designed mixed-use development”.
I have to say, that doesn’t look terribly inviting architecturally. I also hope the balconies are at the rear and not just omitted. Looks to me that the Chesro name will start to become associated with bland designs if this sort of thing carries on.
By EOD
Uninspiring. Warrington deserves better
By Chesney