Unigate Building, Brighton Road

Summary of Work:

Landgage Heritage was invited to provide a site appraisal and heritage assessment to support an unresolved and complex planning application for the redevelopment of a commercial site as an M&S Food Store and Creative and Cultural Enterprise Hub.

The site, a distinct local landmark, still reflected its early 20th century origins and original use as a milk distribution centre. The site contained buildings with heritage interest characterised by the architectural quality and their local historic interest. As such, the building had been identified by the local planning authority (LPA) as a Locally Listed Building, making it a non-designated heritage asset.

The LPA had not supported the original proposals, expressing significant concerns, particularly about how much of the Locally Listed Building would be retained and to what extent the building’s heritage would be preserved. Given these concerns the client appointed Landgage to help move the situation forward.

Landgage carefully reviewed and assessed all aspects of the proposed plans, noting the intention to ensure preservation and retention of much of the historic fabric, and for the architectural interest and townscape value of the building to remain legible. Existing advice, by way of a structural engineer’s technical note, also indicated the proposed development would result in the unavoidable loss of a considerable amount of historic fabric of the Locally Listed Building.

Therefore, in the heritage assessment Landgage Heritage had regard both to the scale of the loss of fabric, but also to the considerable structural issues the historic building had as set out in the structural note. These structural issues, combined with the lack of a viable use for the building in the state it was in, meant that even if a different scheme or even if no development were proposed, much historic fabric would be lost regardless.

By balancing these considerations, Landgage were able to demonstrate that the proposals would result in an acceptable impact. This contributed to the local authority granting consent for the proposals.

Recognising the local historic and architectural interest of the building, Landgage recommended a Historic Building Record (HBR) should be undertaken to record the building before it was affected by the development. The HBR comprised a level 2 survey undertaken in accordance with Historic England guidance, and included extensive site photography, scaled drawings and analysis to support and illustrate the record provided in the HBR report.