GT3 hopes proposals will be picked up by prospective developers
A Nottingham architect has set out its vision for the grade II-listed former Debenhams store in the city centre, which has been empty since the retail chain’s collapse in May 2021.
The retailer closed more than 100 stores in its final month, with major architects such as Squire & Partners and AHMM subsequently commissioned to redevelop stores in Guildford and the centre of London.
But according to GT3 Architects, more than 90% of the chain’s former stores still lie empty, including the one in Nottingham, where the architect has a studio.
GT3 has reimagined the 159-year-old building as a mixed-use development featuring a food hall, boutique shops, a hotel, office space, a media centre, housing, hospitality and a public roof terrace.
In the architect’s plans, the smaller building next door on Long Row would become a pub and cultural centre called The Mikado, in reference to a café building which stood adjacent some 70 years before.
Longmead Capital, a London-based investment management firm, has reportedly approached Nottingham City Council to discuss future plans for the building, though GT3’s speculative proposals are not related to those discussions.
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A statement from the design team said that Nottingham needed “more emphatic pieces of civic architecture” and that a “high quality architectural intervention” could be achieved at the location “through gentle density that softens imposing buildings and by involving local commerce”.
“There is huge speculation as to what the premises should become, so our design provides a ‘shopping list’ of options to provoke real discussion around how we reimagine this much-admired landmark,” it continued.
“We have some incredible historic architecture in and around the city currently underutilised or empty.
“It is therefore our hope that sympathetic interventions, such as this proposal, will encourage a more varied intergenerational community to work, live and play in the city centre, helping its recovery post-recession and reshaping it for decades to come.”
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