World Interest in Preston Bus Station

The design and architectural competition for Preston Bus Station has already received interest from across the globe.

So far there have been 8,000 unique visits to the bus station competition webpage, from 80 different countries as far afield as Azerbaijan and Venezuela.

And 125 architecture practices from 16 different countries have already registered to take part.

The plans will see an investment of around £13m in Preston's iconic bus station, which will transform the public space and become home to the new Preston Youth Zone – while preserving the building’s unique Grade II listed brutalist architecture.

Jennifer Mein, the leader of Lancashire County Council, said: "We're absolutely delighted at the strong level of interest in this competition, since it was launched less than a fortnight ago.

"We hope that this will lead to some outstanding plans coming forward to develop this iconic building.

"This is an exciting time and good news for Preston and Lancashire in general. We're looking forward to seeing the ideas that come from our competition. It's important that we protect the integrity of this listed building, while creating an exciting new facility for generations of our young people."

Kathryn Morley, Chief Executive at OnSide Youth Zones said: “This is an incredibly exciting time in the development of Preston Youth Zone. It is fantastic to see so much interest in the Preston Bus Station project; OnSide is thrilled to be involved and can’t wait to get started.”

The architectural competition is being run by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), on behalf of the county council and Preston Youth Zone. Once completed it will help the bus station site become a catalyst for regeneration and make it more appealing to passengers.

Hugh Broughton, RIBA Adviser, said: “This bold competition provides an exciting step in creating a bright future for this modernist masterpiece. We are really looking forward to seeing what innovative ideas designers can come up with to complement the daring and uplifting architecture of the existing bus station."

To find out more about the competition, visit www.ribacompetitions.com/preston.