Office plans for St John's Church Blackburn passed

Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council’s Planning and Highways Committee agreed at their meeting on Thursday night (November 16) to delegate powers to authorise a planning application for St John’s Church, which was damaged by a fire in 2019.

The application set out detailed plans to invest in the landmark building to create a high-quality, sustainable workspace – providing offices, meeting rooms, and more and part of the town’s new Tech Innovation Quarter.

The 9,000sqft of office space will be spread over four floors – with the proposed new fourth level in the roof space.

St John's Church was damaged by a fire in 2019 (Image: Archive)

The scheme forms a cornerstone of the council’s £250m Blackburn Town Centre Masterplan, linking with new cyber opportunities at Samlesbury, with the establishment of the new national centre there.

Council leader Phil Riley said: “We’ve worked hard with award-winning architects, OMI, and key stakeholders on these plans to resurrect St John’s Church and sensitively reinstate much of its former glory.

“We want to ensure that its long history can be celebrated with a strong, new future – a future that builds on the borough’s enviable reputation for entrepreneurism and impressive record for successful business start-ups and links to the new cyber opportunities in Lancashire.

READ MORE: Office plans for St John's Church Blackburn set for approval

“Dating back to 1789, the former church, with its bell tower, has long been a prominent building on the Blackburn town centre skyline and its part of the character of our town.

“These impressive plans will allow for a complete refurbishment – converting the building into a flexible workspace with new offices, meeting rooms, and lettable desks.

“There will also be a new glass fourth floor in the roof space offering views of the area.”

How St John's Church will look when the transformation is complete (Image: Blackburn with Darwen Council)

Manchester-based OMI Architects have won 13 RIBA Awards and are known for a broad range of innovative projects, including complex heritage schemes similar to St John’s involving some of the region’s most important listed buildings.

St John’s, which sits within the Richmond Terrace and St John’s Conservation Area, was used as a place of worship up until 1975 when it closed and later transferred to council ownership.

READ MORE: Fresh plans to restore Blackburn's fire-hit St John's Church

The development is earmarked to be part of the first phase of the Blackburn Town Centre Masterplan, with new CGIs showing how the whole area could be transformed.

The new office space – linking to the neighbouring Making Rooms – boasts 20 new office units and pods together with co-working space and meeting rooms.

Also due to come forward as part of the first set of works is a skills and education campus of national significance – backed by £20m of new Levelling Up funding from the Government.

The wider plans for the masterplan include:

• The potential relocation of Morrisons to a new store on the former Thwaites brewery site with the opportunity to retain and upgrade the existing car park for public use
• New, low carbon town centre living in proximity to services, retail, workspace, and major public transport connections
• Improved public open spaces and increased cycle and pedestrian routes with new connectivity to local canal infrastructure

Cllr Riley added: “The £250m Blackburn Town Centre Masterplan is believed to be the largest town centre regeneration scheme of its type in the whole region and we have our new Cultural Quarter in full development too with work just starting on Blackburn College’s iconic Victoria Building.

“In Darwen, the town centre will benefit from once-in-a-lifetime investment through the Town Deal, which will support the refurbishment of key heritage buildings, including the Market Hall and Darwen Library Theatre.

How St John's Church currently looks (Image: Blackburn with Darwen Council)

“This is all part of our bold, £1b vision for the future of Blackburn with Darwen and our mission to create a more prosperous borough where no-one is left behind.”

The Planning and Highways Committee voted in support of the officer recommendation to delegate authority to the council’s strategic director of growth & development and deputy chief executive to approve permission for the full planning application and listed building consent with a number of conditions in place.

No objections were lodged against the plans.

READ MORE: Blackburn: £3.75m restoration of church destroyed by fire

Adam Gray, associate director of OMI Architects, added: “This is a fantastic opportunity to bring a key historic building in a prominent town centre location back into everyday use as an innovation hub providing a range of meeting rooms, offices, and flexible work space.

“We are delighted to have secured planning and listed building consent to enable the next stage of this exciting project to progress a step nearer to realisation.

“Whilst the new architecture is deliberately different from that of the existing fabric, the dialogue between the two services to amplify the architectural qualities of both. It’s a voyage of discovery as you move through the building reading different elements of the existing architecture against the backdrop of the new.”