CAMPAIGNERS have launched a last-ditch bid to save the landmark ‘ship’ building in Derriford – by asking for it to be listed.
Demolition could begin on the landmark £33.5million former Herald and Western Morning News headquarters within weeks, it has emerged.
Its owners, Daily Mail and General Trust, says it can’t find a buyer and needs the award-winning 1993 building flattened so the site can be redeveloped.
Plymouth City Council is yet to decide whether or not to give the go-ahead to the plans to tear down the building, designed by prominent architect Sir Nicholas Grimshaw, but DMGT hopes work can begin as early as this spring.
But now campaign group The Twentieth Century Society, has stepped in in an attempt to block the demolition.
They have announced an ‘urgent spot listing’ application which could give the building special protection.
Placing The Ship on the Statutory List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest would give the structure protection.
The list is maintained by English Heritage. The conservation body’s website says that “buildings built within the last 30 years have to be exceptionally important to be listed, and under threat”.
They must also be of “architectural interest: buildings which are nationally important for the interest of their architectural design, decoration and craftsmanship; also important examples of particular building types and techniques”.
English Heritage adds that to have historic interest they must “illustrate important aspects of the nation’s social, economic, cultural or military history”.
Henrietta Billings, of The Twentieth Century Society, said: “This striking building is a beautifully crafted ship-shaped Plymouth landmark.
“Designed to be completely transparent, the design of the extraordinary structure draws on the city’s proud nautical history.
“It is a unique building of distinction – there is nothing else like it in Plymouth from this period or by such a prestigious architect.
“To demolish it would not only be a shocking waste of resources, it would also be a significant loss to the region’s 20th century architecture.”
The glass-and-steel landmark has been empty since The Herald and sister paper the Western Morning News moved to Millbay in 2013.
The Herald was formerly part of a regional newspaper group owned by DMGT but became part of a new company, Local World, in 2013.
DMGT has not yet commented on the plans to demolish the building.
But planning documents state it is “unviable” and in a “poor state of repair”, with no prospective buyers coming forward.