Coitbury House in Friarsgate and Kings Walk are part of the Silver Hill redevelopment area and in previous schemes have been earmarked for demolition.
The city council and its partner, the Jigsaw consortium, are preparing plans for the area which lies between The Broadway and Friarsgate including the bus station.
Coitbury House, built in the 1950s is a former NHS offices now used as temporary housing for key workers. Kings Walk has been partly-refurbished but is mostly unused, and was formerly city council offices, built in the 1970s.
READ MORE HERE: Latest on development of Silver Hill in Winchester city centre
Keith Leaman, chairman of the trust, writing in its latest newsletter, said: “In recent years much architectural debate has revolved around whether or not redundant buildings should be pulled down and replaced or refurbished. The reasoning behind the debate is that the demolition process and the materials used to construct a new building are carbon intensive and so contribute to climate change. They are also increasingly expensive to produce. Whether to refurbish a building is not always an easy decision, as it can end up being more expensive and more difficult, than building a new one”.
Mr Leaman added: “There are several examples of buildings in Winchester where discussions have taken place as to whether a building is worth saving or not. One example is the Kings Walk building. It has never been a popular exemplification of worthwhile architecture: it has a number of large awkward interior spaces, for example. On the other hand, it is built with some good materials and is therefore arguably worth saving.
The Kings Walk arcade (Image: P Nicholson)
“Another example is Coitbury House, solidly built using good materials. This building is certainly a candidate for a sensitive refurbishment. I was a member of an advisory committee set up by the city council a few years ago to discuss options for Coitbury House. It s future is currently unclear. There are good examples of designers with imagination who have managed not only to rescue such buildings, but make them into a popular worthwhile contribution to a city.”
The most recent action in the Silver Hill redevelopment, also known as Central Winchester Regeneration (CWR), was the demolition last year of the Friarsgate Medical Centre for the creation of a pop-up park.
The council’s vision is for a “sustainable, pedestrian-led quarter with a mix of uses defined by attractive public spaces, reflecting the distinctive character of the city centre”.