SAVE adds voice to campaign to save Bristol’s former Debenhams store
The former Debenhams building in Bristol as it stands today (Credit: C20 Society)
The proposed 28-storey tower to replace Debenhams (Credit: AWW).
8th February 2024
SAVE Britain's Heritage has strongly objected to proposals to demolish the former Debenhams site in Bristol and replace it with a 28 storey tower.
The unlisted city centre building opened its doors as the department store Jones & Co in 1957, and was constructed to designs by Healing and Overbury. The building is unlisted but forms a key historic part of the comprehensive post-war redevelopment of the Broadmead area, which was carefully planned by the City Architect at the time, John Meredith and retains its coherence to this day.
Since Debenhams ceased trading in 2021, the building’s future has been at risk. SAVE has strongly objected to proposals submitted in late 2023 to demolish the mid-century building and construct a tower block in its place.
Calls for these plans to be refused have also been made by other national heritage bodies including the Twentieth Century Society, Historic England, as well as local civic watchdog, the Bristol Civic Society.
All have argued that demolishing the former Debenhams building would be a great loss for Bristol, unjustifiably removing a landmark building of clear historic and architectural interest and breaking up the historic post-war townscape which survives as a remarkably intact example of civic master planning. The radical scale of the 28 storey tower proposed would overwhelm and overshadow the Broadmead area, having far reaching impacts across the city centre.
SAVE has been actively involved in raising the profile and civic qualities of department stores and identifying the threats they face in its report Departing Stores: Emporia at Risk, published in April 2022. The report identifies the former Debenhams store as a clear candidate for retention and reuse. With some creativity, this building could have an exciting new lease of life as an exemplar of retrofit and sustainable adaptation. There are numerous examples of department stores being successfully reinvented, including the Debenhams in Bournemouth town centre.
You can object to the proposal here (application no. 23/04490/F) and add your voice to the 70 public objections already received.
Read SAVE's letter of objection below.
ENDS
Notes to editors:
1. For more information and images contact Elizabeth Hopkirk: elizabeth.hopkirk@savebritainsheritage.org / 020 7253 3500.
2.SAVE Britain’s Heritage is an independent voice in conservation that fights for threatened historic buildings and sustainable reuses. We stand apart from other organisations by bringing together architects, engineers, planners and investors to offer viable alternative proposals. Where necessary, and with expert advice, we take legal action to prevent major and needless losses. Our success stories range from Smithfield Market in London and Wentworth Woodhouse stately home in Yorkshire, to a Lancashire bowls club and the Liverpool terraces where Ringo Starr grew up.
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