Alternative city centre vision for Preston unveiled

A Preston architect says the city could stake its claim as an alternative shopping destination to Manchester and Liverpool by bringing big brands to the high street – but in miniature form.

John Bridge has floated the idea of “micro-retail” spaces for high-end names like fashion chain Zara and department store John Lewis within his vision for the redevelopment of the site currently occupied by St. John’s Shopping Centre.

He says the plot – in between the bus station and the market quarter – has the potential to become home to a unique mix of “try-before-you buy” stores, sitting alongside new spa and conference facilities.

The Studio John Bridge boss has released a range of images of what the new part-indoor, part-outdoor space could look like, should the current operators of the precinct be interested in a radical rethink of their premises.

It has been put into the public domain as one of the firm’s so-called “golden egg” designs – created for the good of Preston in the hope of sparking a conversation about a potential future project.

John told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that a big part of his proposal was about stemming the flow of Lancashire shoppers drawn to the likes of the Trafford Centre and Liverpool One when they wanted to visit retailers who do not have a presence in the county.

“The idea [is to have] some really good micro-retail that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg to the businesses to rent, but gives customers and visitors to Preston that [special] experience.

“I think we learned from Covid that [online] is probably where people [often] shop, but having some point of contact – to actually go and look and feel and try before you buy – is still a big thing in human nature.

“It doesn’t have to be a massive store – my take…is that with us being the alternative to Manchester and Liverpool, Preston can have its own identity. And I think that’s one of the reasons why…we’ve got an opportunity to do something quite unique and and more appropriately sized.

“If you bring the retailers, the people will come. There are people that go to the Trafford Centre from Preston – so the need for a Zara, the need for really decent high-street brands such as White Company [and] maybe even a pop-up John Lewis [is there],”John explained.

If that particular retail line-up were ultimately realised, it would see John Lewis finally arrive in the city 15 years after the collapse of the ill-fated Tithebarn Project, which would have had the iconic high-street name at its heart.

However, John says any redevelopment of St. John’s – which opened its doors back in 1965 and currently boasts around 20 retailers, offering mostly everyday essentials – needs to be about more than shopping.

To that end, his blueprint includes a ‘green plaza’, giving people a space to relax in the centre of the city, along with a health spa and 700-capacity conference centre.  He says the venture would complement the transformation of the area in recent years, as spearheaded by the new indoor market and the forthcoming ‘Animate’ cinema and leisure development due to open in early 2025.

“From a footfall point of view, if you’ve [already] got some really nice restaurants, apartments and hotels in the city, another reason for having a trip to a place would be to relax and unwind – and to have somewhere where you can have treatments and it not be all about alcohol and food.

“I think that’s really positive from a mental health perspective for people wanting to come or work in the city centre, if there’s a really lovely place [where] you could break out and relax – and tap into that leisure, daytime and nighttime economy.

“A conference space…does really well in any city centre – and even if we’ve not had it in the past, it’s time for it now,” John said.

He also says the proposal would serve to connect two “amazing” sites within Preston – the bus station and historic market canopies – and create “a really nice through-fare” between them, enabling one to be seen from the other.

If it seems like the proud Prestonian has thought of everything, there was at least one question that stumped him – what would he call the distinctive-looking development?

“It definitely needs a good nickname,” he laughed.