Plymouth’s towering but dilapidated railway station skyscraper is to be redeveloped and turned into a university campus for training health professionals - also giving the city a new gateway as part of a £100mllion project.
Plans for the 11-storey North Cross block have been unveiled and if they are approved quickly work could begin on the transformation of Intercity House during the summer of 2019, with completion expected in early 2021.
The redevelopment, masterminded by the University of Plymouth, would make a major difference to one of Plymouth’s key gateways and is part of a much wider plan for the nearby university campus and the railway station concourse and land in between the two.
No cost figure has been revealed by the university, because , but it will take “significant” investment.
The proposal, which has gone out to a public consultation, would see the 42m-high monolith, currently mostly empty but with some offices being used by firms, emptied and reconfigured inside and out.
The block’s two main facades would be re-clad in a light bronze coloured anodised aluminium and “fins” around the windows will mean it will reflect light at different angles and colours and give it a “shifting and varying appearance”.
But most prominent for the city will be the creation of a glazed top floor viewing room, and possibly a “sky cafe”, which will act as a “beacon” at night for the city.
And an illuminated “halo” of LED lighting on the roof will also make the tower stand out at night and act as a landmark for the city.
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The university is to take a long lease for the building from its owner Network Rail. It will to train nurses, midwives, and other allied health professionals such as podiatrists, physiotherapists, paramedics and optometrists.
The revamped building is planned to include classrooms, research facilities and offices, but also mock-up wards to give students the opportunity to train in an environment as close to reality as possible. There will even be a mock flat, for students who will be working in the community to practise operating in a patient’s home.
There will be cafe facilities but the building is not designed to be used by the general public. However, the intercity House redevelopment is part of a wider plan which will see the adjacent Rail Incident Safety Centre (RISC) building knocked down to make way for a new multi-storey car park.
The existing multi-storey parking lot would also be demolished, and replaced with a hotel, and two other buildings could sit alongside it as the overall scheme looks to improve the access route from the railway station to the university and city centre, by bringing in a “stepped access” to Armada Way.
The overall plan is a joint effort involving the university, Plymouth City Council, GWR, Network Rail, the Heart of the South West LEP and the Department for Transport.
Adam Jones, the university’s head of capital development, said: “The building is pretty much empty, there are some small components on the ground floor, part of GWR, but we are looking at having vacant possession in September 2019.
“Hopefully we will be able to start work in July or August with a soft strip and maybe erect scaffoldings, but work will mainly commence later this year and complete in February 2021.”
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He said redevelopment of the building would allow the university to bring all its medial professional training into one place. Currently it is scattered between the main campus, and Plymouth Science Park and the Plymouth Marjon University site, both at Derriford.
When Intercity Place is completed it will free space in these other locations for alternative uses.”
The plans have been drawn up by MICA Architects, based in London and Oxford, but a tender process will decide who carries out the building work.
Mr Jones said the revamped building would create “an exciting gateway to Plymouth and the university but also link with its architectural heritage.
The building was opened in 1962 by Dr Richard Beeching, the chairman of British Rail responsible for closing thousands of miles of the rail network.
“We want to be sympathetic to the building, it’s Brutalist but there is a back story and we wanted to preserve and be sensitive to the original building creating something that is fresh and contemporary but still nodding back to the past.”
He said the redevelopment was “long overdue” and would be a major asset for the city and university and the 2.5million passengers who go through the station each year.
The university has been working with the council Network Rail and GWR on the greater railway station plan since 2015.
In February 2018 the Government announced it could get around £4.7million as part of a package given to the Heart of the South West Local Economic Partnership (HotSW LEP).
The scheme has already received some financial support through the One Public Estate, with the Cabinet Office providing £700,000 for feasibility and planning work.
The city council has also pledged around £30million and the Department for Transport is also supporting the project.
But in May 2018 the Government said it as looking at ways of paying for the development by attracting overseas investment.
The Government wants to bring in more than £30billion from foreigners to help pay for 68 development projects including the Plymouth railway station proposals.
However, the council has stressed the project is “not dependent upon foreign investors” , but said touting it on the global stage is welcome.
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To contact William Telford: william.telford@reachplc.com