The only Art Deco building in Plymouth city centre looks set to be renovated under a £760,000 council investment in a bid to attract a new tenant.
The imposing Colin Campbell House, in the corner of Colin Campbell Court, is set for a facelift while plans progress to build a £25m health hub on its doorstep.
The striking edifice, built in 1938 and designed by EG Catchpole, has a flat roof and curved windows and is the only surviving example of an Art Deco building in the city centre. A move to have it listed failed in 2016. That was the same year Plymouth City Council acquired the building as part of long-term regeneration plans for the West End.
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The 20th Century Society has described the pile as a unique example of interwar architecture. In its time it has been a car showroom, a Habitat store, a book shop and the ground floor is currently occupied by City Furniture Store, which is relocating.
The council has been working closely with NHS colleagues on designs for a health and wellbeing centre to be constructed in a section of Colin Campbell Court, which has been submitted to planners, but is also turning its attention to the location’s landmark building.
The overall redevelopment of the area has envisaged the refurbishment of Colin Campbell House, and the demolition and replacement of some buildings fronting Western Approach and Market Avenue with blocks of flats. The Plymouth and South West Devon Joint Local Plan (JLP) envisages Colin Campbell House being returned to use and was referenced for retention where “practical and viable to do so”.
A decision is now due to be signed by the leader of the council, Cllr Nick Kelly, giving the green light to allocate £760,000 into the capital programme.
A design, costing and schedule of work exercise has been carried out to complete works to the ground floor to improve the quality of the space.
Work will focus initially on the ground floor and the exterior but it will also involve appropriate fire and acoustic separation to minimise disruption to the ground floor tenant during later redevelopment of the upper floors. The proposal also includes installing an access ramp, so a planning application will be submitted in the next few weeks.
Cllr Kelly said: “I am sure many people will be as delighted as I am to see some investment into one of the few Art Deco buildings Plymouth has. For years people have wondered about its future – well I am pleased to say it is in hand.
“It needs investment, but it also needs a use and we hope that work to the exterior and ground floor will enable us to secure a long-term, sustainable use.”
The planned West End Health and Wellbeing Centre which will front onto Western Approach and fill a huge part of the car park in down-at-heel Colin Campbell Court is expected to pave the way for a large-scale redevelopment of the area. In 2021, detailed plans for the health hub, which at 5,700sq m would be bigger than Colin Campbell House, were revealed to the public at a consultation event.
It has been anticipated that the centre could be open by the summer of 2024 and attract up to 4,000 people into the city centre every day, bringing a huge economic boost for the West End of the city centre. The West End Health and Wellbeing Centre, which would cost between £20m and £25m to build, has been designed to include a range of services all under one roof in a convenient city centre location.
