THE former Northern Echo building in Priestgate, Darlington, is set to be converted to an adult learning facility and office space.

Plans have been submitted to Darlington Borough Council's planning authority for internal refurbishment to provide an adult education facility to ground floor with office space provided to first, second and third floors.

The plans also include minor alterations to exterior elevations to facilitate replacement and additional windows and blocking up of some existing windows.

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There will also be an installation of five EV charging points to existing hardstanding and provision of bicycle store to north elevation.

AB Heritage has been commissioned by Adavo Ltd to produce a Heritage Statement covering proposed works at The Northern Echo building.

The proposed scheme of work is for the redevelopment of the unlisted former Northern Echo headquarters into an adult skills hub on the ground floor and office space on the first, second and third floors.

On the interior, the proposed scheme of work will involve the construction of partition walls to create individual rooms.

The proposals will refurbish the interior of the property which is presently in poor condition. The proposal will respect the very few surviving historic features.

The exterior of The Northern Echo building has been largely unchanged since it was refronted in 1933, which provided a unified appearance across three distinct phases of construction since the mid to late 19th century.

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However, the interior has been demonstrably altered and the original circulation has been rendered almost unreadable.

However, some historic fabric does still survive, mainly within the ground floor reception area and the first floor. This includes structural columns and a First World War memorial on the ground floor, and original offices on the first floor.

Ultimately there will be limited changes to the exterior of the building and interior changes will be sensitive to heritage, where appropriate.