Preston Bus Station

 

It is with great delight the Continuity in Architecture can confirm that Preston Bus Station has been granted Grade 2 listed status. CiA have, with Gate 81, actively supported the campaign to enjoy the building, and we hope that this will mean that we can take delight in it for many years to come.

Don’t forget the planned procession to celebrate the Bus station, which will parade through the City Centre on November 2nd.

Here is an extract from the English Heritage notice about the listing:

“English Heritage is very pleased that the Heritage Minister has agreed with its advice to list Preston Central Bus Station and Car Park at Grade II. A dramatic building which combines innovation with architectural panache, the Bus Station fully deserves this marker of special recognition.

With an unusual blend of New Brutalist architecture mellowed by the curves of the roof and the sweeping ranks of the car park, this ‘megastructure’ was designed to recreate a sense of the monumental within the British town scene: it is a landmark in the innovation of transport-related buildings as well as a landmark of Preston.

 The Heritage Minister’s decision recognises the ingenuity with which the car park and the bus station are combined – strikingly uniting simple forms with the details required by a building with a heavy-duty function. It is a bus station which aspired to the glamour of other forms of travel, combining rational modernity with expressive architectural forms. During a time of optimism in progress and modernity, it was devised to provide the added facilities needed by the town as well as long-distance services made possible by the opening of the M6 and gave Preston a unique place in coach travel.

Preston Bus Station is truly remarkable; the boldness of vision, the ingenuity of the design, the attention to detail and the aesthetic impact mark it out from the vast numbers of public buildings built since the Second World War.

 Listing will not prevent changes being made, provided that the architectural significance of the building is protected. We are aware that Preston City Council faces challenges in maintaining the structure and integrating it effectively with the city centre and that, as a result, it has decided that it wishes to demolish it. We will however continue to explore with the Council how these challenges can be addressed so that the building can once again play a key role in the life of the city.”