Plans are being put in place to ‘secure the future’ of the building
Aerial view of Bootle Strand and the surrounding area(Image: EFP Drone Footage)
The ‘brutalist’ nature of Bootle’s famous Strand shopping centre will be preserved during the building’s proposed transformation.
The historic shopping centre was purchased by Sefton Council in 2017 for £32.5m and the local authority laid out plans for a landmark regeneration project to “secure its future”. Plans were accelerated in March 2023 with the award of £20m as part of the government’s Levelling Up fund.
Sefton Council’s Planning Committee met last night, Wednesday, January 15 at Bootle Town Hall to hear the latest proposals for Bootle Strand shopping centre and to formally approve the local authority’s planning application for the regeneration of the site. The proposals included recommendations for extensive landscaping work, the creation of a ‘public square’ and the change of use of the former M&S building on Stanley Road, which closed down in 2016.
The latest update is a significant step in the process of redeveloping the site after a number of delays to demolition works which are now scheduled to go ahead in the spring. Notably, as works progress, all the businesses will remain open as usual throughout the development and available to the public.
The site comprises a brick and concrete building constructed of precast blocks with glass windows and external metal shutters. After public consultation, it has been decided that the project will adopt a ‘fabric first’ policy for the redevelopment and preserve original features where possible.
The planning report was presented to the committee by council officer, Catherine Lewis, stating: “The Strand shopping centre built in 1968 embraced brutalist architecture and the approach to design is to retain the brutalist nature of the block whilst balancing any new architectural openings in the facades.”
Ms Lewis said the newly created shopfronts would incorporate a pastel colour scheme after recommendations were made by the Places Matter Panel – a group of young people from the area who were invited to submit design ideas. Additionally, each shop will include an external projecting bus stop type signage, with internally hung signage presented behind the glazed panels. The regeneration strategy will see the retention and cleaning of the existing concrete cladding panels which will be used as a canvas to promote future events and artwork.
Whilst this proposal could result in a loss of retail units on the primary retail frontage, the local planning manager has advised the benefits of securing new uses in the retained block – which has largely been vacant since Marks and Spencer closed – outweighs the loss of any retail units. The former M&S unit will undergo a full refurbishment and reconfiguration to provide six retail units and a new ‘community space’.