Book calls doomed Preston Bus Station 'building to see before you die'

Author: Elizabeth Smythe - 22 April 2013

An architectural book has named Preston Bus Station as one of the 1001 buildings 'you must see before you die', blogpreston.co.uk writes.

The Cassell Illustrated tome features the iconic building, which is currently at the centre of a dispute between conservationists and Preston Council over whether or not it will be demolished.

The bus station, design and construction of which occurred in the 1960s, is a prominent part of the city and features in the book alongside Notre Dame in Paris and Berlin's Reichstag. However, the concrete structure, which is in the Brutalist architectural style, has split opinion.

The city council voted to demolish the building, replacing it with a smaller station and plus car park on the same site. Campaigners, meanwhile, are trying to persuade English Heritage to grant it a listed status, meaning that it is protected from the bulldozers.

Preston Council has reacted, according to lep.co.uk, by submitting a Certificate of Immunity document, which will guarantee that the building won't be listed for five years. That means if the campaigner's bid is unsuccessful, it will be five years before another bid can be submitted.

English Heritage has said that it will deal with the submissions in the order in which they were received, with the campaigners' bid first. There may therefore still be a chance for people to see this building, as the Cassell book suggests.