The three-storey building has been vacant since 2018. Credit: via Chester University
Dan Whelan
Previously occupied by HM Revenue & Customs, Mersey Bank House is to be converted into a “digitally rich” campus, replacing the university’s Padgate facility, which is no longer fit for purpose.
Chester University bought the 23,000 sq ft Barbauld Street building last year.
The three-storey Mersey Bank House has been vacant since 2018 and the university plans to convert the property into a centre for its education and nursing courses that features “digitally rich, agile and flexible” spaces, it said.
The conversion of the building will allow the university to expand its teaching and learning offer and deliver short courses and conference events, according to planning documents submitted to Warrington Council.
Under the plans, the ground floor of the building would provide access to a reception area, a university student/staff information point, a student lounge area, and seminar and office accommodation.
The first floor would provide additional seminar and office accommodation, alongside simulation suites. The second floor will house a computer laboratory and a “state-of-the-art immersive teaching space”.
Once complete, the property is to be renamed the Sarah Parker Remond Building, after the black women’s rights and anti-slavery campaigner who travelled to Warrington to give a series of speeches in the 1800s.
Cushman & Wakefield is advising the university on its proposals.
Elsewhere in Warrington, the university is to open a smaller site at the £142m Time Square, which will act as the “shop front” of the Warrington campus, according to the university.
The Time Square unit is to comprise an information point, study space, breakout spaces for seminars, and a small lecture space for talks and events.
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