Flats plan for empty department store site
PLYMOUTH’S former Debenhams department store could be radically remodelled to become two shops and more than 160 flats, after new owners bought the property for more than £3.5 million.
Under proposals by developer BuildVantage Ltd, the city centre site would have a two-storey extension built on top. The plans would also see a huge chunk of the rear of the building demolished and rebuilt to provide light for flats created in the vast former sales area of the upper floors.
The facades of the building, which fronts on to New George Street and Royal Parade, would remain untouched and no parking would be created for the development.
A design statement, submitted by Plymouth’s BRL Architects as part of a pre-application submission to Plymouth City Council planners, said the idea is “not to detract from the architecture of the original building and minimise the visual impact”.
The plan envisages creating 166 one and two-bedroom apartments in the extended building and says that in order for it to be financially viable it would need rooftop extensions for two floors containing more than 50 flats. The rooftop extension would be “lightweight” in construction and appearance, in contrast to the “heavy” moulded Portland Stone existing elevations.
The design statement said the extension will also be necessary to meet the intensification strategy for the city centre as set out within the Plymouth and South West Devon Joint Local Plan 2014-2034.
Meanwhile, two “lightwells” would be created at the rear of the building, with apartments located either side. There would be landscaped gardens at their base and the one-bed apartments would have balconies overlooking them.
To create the lightwells, the developer wants to demolish the whole of the elevation facing on to the car park, including the existing service core with stairs and lifts down to first floor of the original department store.
New re-clad elevations would then be built and would be of a “contrasting lightweight contemporary nature and predominantly glass” to maximise daylight. Non-combustible cladding panels would be used.
The main entrance to the development would be from Bedford Way, directly under the existing bridge link, which will be retained under the plan. On the roof of the central block, there would be a landscaped rooftop garden for use by residents, “offering panoramic views over the city in all directions”.
The developer said some sub-division of the ground floor would be needed to allow for smaller retail units, restaurants and cafés. Being a city centre development, the proposal is for a “zero-parking development” but secure cycle storage would be provided in the existing basement.
The building was built during the post-war redevelopment of Plymouth city centre for Messrs Spooner & Co and was used as a department store for more than 50 years. However, it has been vacant since Debenhams shut its entire portfolio of more than 90 UK stores in 2021, with about 12,000 workers losing their jobs and the door closing on more than 200 years of trade on the high street.