Designs by John Puttick Associates go on display alongside archive material and new photography at the London offices of engineers Skelly and Couch, in a new exhibition entitled 'Preston Bus Station and Youth Zone'.
Designed by local firm Building Design Partnership (BDP) and completed in 1969, the Preston Bus Station had been threatened several times with demolition, before the iconic Brutalist structure became a Grade II listed building in 2013 and plans for its restoration ensued.
Winning the RIBA-initiated competition earlier this year, the architecture firm John Puttick Associates will work on the restoration, and are looking to streamline the original architecture by clearing the interiors of distractions, consolidating entrances and creating a new central entrance hall. The Helvetica typeface will be reintroduced for signs and colours will be returned to their original palettes.
The new youth centre has a translucent entranceway and is planned around a double height performance space
In addition to the refurbishment of the station, a youth centre was commissioned by Lancashire County Council to add valuable community purpose to the site. Designed by the same architects as 'a pavilion to the palace', the ‘Youth Zone’ building falls into step with the strongly tiered lines of Preston Bus Station’s concrete canopies, with four unevenly tapering levels and a colonnade facing the façade of the bus station.
Presented alongside the designs, photographs by Gareth Gardner capture the building pre-restoration and show the enduring prowess of Preston Bus Station nearly 50 years on – a credit to the original architecture. Archive material of the original designs by BDP will also be on display, helping to put together a portrait of Preston Bus Station as it is about to move forward into a new era.
Construction is scheduled to begin imminently and the restoration will be complete by early 2018. The Youth Zone will break ground in September 2017.
Designs by John Puttick Associates won the RIBA competition for the redesign of Preston Bus Station
Plans include the new Youth Zone building, which was designed as a ’satellite structure’ following design cues from the original BDP project
Archive material from the 1960s, courtesy of BDP, will be on display alongside the new designs by John Puttick Associates
Preston Bus Station was granted Grade II listed status in 2013 and has become a Brutalist landmark for the city of Preston in north England
Ample archive material will be accompanied by more recent photographs by Gareth Gardner
A view of the exhibition at Skelly & Couch in London
INFORMATION
’Preston Bus Station and Youth Zone’ is on view until 11 November. For more information, visit the John Puttick Associates website and Skelly and Couch website
ADDRESS
Skelly and Couch
6-9 Union Wharf
23 Wenlock Rd
London N1 7SB
-
The new Tudor Ranger watches master perfectly executed simplicityThe Tudor Ranger watches look back to the 1960s for a clean and legible design
-
This late-night hangout brings back 1970s glam to LA’s Sunset BoulevardGalerie On Sunset is primed for strong drinks, shared plates, live music, and long nights
-
How Memphis developed from an informal gathering of restless creatives into one of design's most influential movementsEverything you want to know about Memphis Design, from its history to its leading figures to the pieces to know (and buy)
-
Step inside this perfectly pitched stone cottage in the Scottish HighlandsA stone cottage transformed by award-winning Glasgow-based practice Loader Monteith reimagines an old dwelling near Inverness into a cosy contemporary home
-
This curved brick home by Flawk blends quiet sophistication and playful detailsDistilling developer Flawk’s belief that architecture can be joyful, precise and human, Runda brings a curving, sculptural form to a quiet corner of north London
-
A compact Scottish home is a 'sunny place,' nestled into its thriving orchard settingGrianan (Gaelic for 'sunny place') is a single-storey Scottish home by Cameron Webster Architects set in rural Stirlingshire
-
Porthmadog House mines the rich seam of Wales’ industrial past at the Dwyryd estuaryStröm Architects’ Porthmadog House, a slate and Corten steel seaside retreat in north Wales, reinterprets the area’s mining and ironworking heritage
-
Arbour House is a north London home that lies low but punches highArbour House by Andrei Saltykov is a low-lying Crouch End home with a striking roof structure that sets it apart
-
A former agricultural building is transformed into a minimal rural home by Bindloss DawesZero-carbon design meets adaptive re-use in the Tractor Shed, a stripped-back house in a country village by Somerset architects Bindloss Dawes
-
RIBA House of the Year 2025 is a ‘rare mixture of sensitivity and boldness’Topping the list of seven shortlisted homes, Izat Arundell’s Hebridean self-build – named Caochan na Creige – is announced as the RIBA House of the Year 2025
-
In addition to brutalist buildings, Alison Smithson designed some of the most creative Christmas cards we've seenThe architect’s collection of season’s greetings is on show at the Roca London Gallery, just in time for the holidays
