Preston Bus Station is to have a Youth Zone built across the Western apron

Nearly 100 entries have been submitted to shape the future of Preston Bus Station’s Youth Zone.

Architects across the world have been looking at the chance to create a new design for the Bus Station and its apron – within the confines of it being a grade II listed building.

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A competition run by Lancashire County Council, who are preparing to spend £13 million on refurbishing the divisive building, attracted 93 entries.

A judging panel led by Hugh Broughton, architect and RIBA appointed adviser, must now whittle the submissions down to a shortlist of five.

John Wilson, who led the campaign to save the building from demolition, is to be one of the judges.

Also on the panel is Rob Carter, deputy chief executive of the charity OnSide who are part of the Youth Zone project, members of the county council and city council cabinet.

Sue Procter, director of programmes and project management for Lancashire County Council said: “We’re delighted to have had such a large number of submissions. This is an exciting time for the design competition.

“The five shortlisted teams will be provided with feedback on their submissions and asked to further develop their concept designs. The aim is to ensure the bus station site become a catalyst for regeneration and to make it more appealing to passengers. It’s key to the competition that we protect the integrity of this listed building, while creating an exciting new facility for generations of young people.”

The Youth Zone is to be funded by £5 million from the county council and the OnSide charity putting up £1 million.

Kathryn Morley, chief executive at OnSide Youth Zones, said: “Preston Bus Station is an iconic symbol in the city and it’s fantastic to see such a great response to this design competition.

“We’re very much looking forward to working with Lancashire County Council to review the submissions and develop a design that will complement the brutalist architecture of the existing bus station and provide a state-of-the-art Youth Zone for Preston’s young people.”

What do you think of the idea for a Youth Zone? Do you support the refurbishment of the Bus Station? Let us know in the comments below