Part of a 1930s Art Deco building in Horsham which was to be converted into flats is now likely to be demolished and rebuilt.
Sitting in the centre of the former Novartis site, the building had previously been spared demolition as plans to redevelop the site were prepared.
During a West Sussex County Council scrutiny committee meeting on Monday, December 1, councillors were told that the wings of the building were ‘not salvagable’.
As such, a planning application has been submitted to Horsham District Council seeking permission to demolish and rebuild them. The clock tower at the centre of the building will not be touched.
The pharmaceutical giant left town in 2014, and the county council bought the 18.6-acre site, in Parsonage Road, for £16million in 2016.
Since then, it has been the centre of some big plans, such as developing it into a university campus or a ‘world renowned’ science park. But those ideas died a death, as did plans for a part-housing, part-commercial development.
Planning permission has since been given for three phases of work on a 450-home development. The Art Deco building formed phase two.
A report from Andrew Edwards, the county council’s assistant director for property & assets, said: “Detailed investigations revealed that [the building] is in very poor condition, with severe concrete and reinforcement deterioration that would require extensive and uncertain remediation.”
“Following discussions with Horsham District Council, it was agreed that the structurally viable solution is to demolish and rebuild the wings of [the building] while retaining the central tower, which holds the main heritage value.
“The decision is driven by safety and structural integrity rather than cost. Both the district council and its heritage officer support this revised approach, recognising it as an opportunity to deliver a stronger, more sustainable, and architecturally enhanced development that preserves the building’s key historic character.”
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