New life could soon be breathed into a derelict town centre art deco building after developers were given permission to redevelop it.
Once a Burton’s menswear store, the Poirot building on the corner of Bridge Street and Fleet Street in Swindon has been sitting empty for years.
However, it could soon come back into use after developer Innovative Associate were granted permission to use it for shops and housing.
In its application, Innovative Associate said the project would “revitalize the derelict building and bolster the local economy by providing new housing and retail spaces”.
“The proposal aims to maximize the potential of the currently vacant property by transforming the property into a mixed-use building that combines commercial and residential areas,” it added.
According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, the plans include three possible separate commercial units to the ground floor, with four one-bed apartments on both the first and second floor.
Recommending the proposal for approval, Swindon Borough Council planning officers said “the development would improve the character of the area and would help to further associate the area with rejuvenation and regeneration as opposed to any perception of dereliction and redundancy”.
“The proposal would positively contribute to town centre regeneration and would return the vacant unit back into active use,” it added.
Highways officers raised concerns about a lack of cycle parking but permission was granted with the condition that lockable storage for eight bikes, with another rack for visitors’ cycles, should be installed before any of the flats are occupied.
The conversion of the upper storeys of the building into eight flats was previously approved in 2019 but that consent had now expired.
