Preston Bus Station marvellous or monstrosity?

Preston's marvellous concrete monstrosity or just or just plain monstrous?

Well, it has been nominated as Britain's ugliest building and in my opinion there are far, far uglier building dotted throughout England's towns and cities. Do you agree?

Preston Bus Station, with its acres of concrete and rebar, can look rather fetchingly photogenic on a sunny summer afternoon than a wet 'n' windy day in February.

According to the Daily Telegraph, Preston City Council had been determined to demolish the vast structure, which also contains a multi-storey car park, rather than spend at least £17 million to modernise it. Now any changes will only be permitted if its architectural significance is protected.

Campaigners including Ed Vaizey, the Minister for Culture, and the Royal Institute of British Architects Journal welcomed the news, but Peter Rankin, the leader of the city’s council, said it was “not the outcome we were hoping for”.

“We've always said the bus station is too big, provides relatively poor facilities for bus passengers and costs Preston taxpayers over £300,000 a year to maintain,” he said.
“We will have to take some time now to consider the listing decision and the options for moving forward.

“In particular, we need to look at costs and the impact on budgets and how it affects Preston taxpayers. We will work closely with Lancashire County Council as transport authority to consider the next steps.”

Since it was unveiled in 1969, the building, designed by Keith Ingham and Charles Wilson and often described as the second biggest bus station in Western Europe, has divided opinion.

A survey by the Lancashire Evening Post in 2010 suggested that it was the Preston residents’ favourite building, but others have branded it an eyesore. A poll carried out by The Telegraph last year suggested that three-quarters of readers believe it is a “modern masterpiece” while a quarter dismissed it as a “monstrosity”.

Following the announcement last month of six nominees for the 2013 Carbuncle Cup, which recognises the worst new buildings around the country, several readers claimed that Preston Bus Station was in fact “Britain’s ugliest building”.

This place holds memories for me as a teenager waiting to catch the bus across to my grandparent's home at weekends and back the all of the buses where red Ribble buses along with the cream and white of Preston corporation. Streams of red double decker buses used to look far better than the multi-coloured Stage Coach buses of today.