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Blog / Old Dock’s House: A History

When we purchased Old Dock’s House back in 2017, we were keen to restore the iconic building back to its former glory. The building is one of Preston’s signature buildings, known for its art-deco design and iconic clock tower.

Built in 1935, it was originally designed as administrative headquarters to the Port of Preston. It continued to stay open until 1981 when the dock closed, only briefly closing during World War II when it was taken over by the military when it was used as a marshaling post for the Normandy landings. A succession of various businesses owned the building until we acquired it almost 30 years later.

A drawing of Old Dock’s House from 1936

An opening ceremony of the building took place on the 12th July 1936, by Sir Arthur Watson. It had been postponed from January 23rd after the death of King George VI, where visitors commented on its convenient layout and the large rooms encouraged vast amounts of natural light.

The Opening Ceremony of Old Dock’s House

Almost 80 years after it had been opened, we set about to restore Old Dock’s House. There had been flooding and some extensive fire damage, but that didn’t stop us reinstating the art-deco style interior back into this iconic building

Before and After of the Old Dock’s House Boardroom

Our aim for this project was to ensure that all restorations looked as natural as possible, to blend seamlessly into the original design. We used high-quality materials sourced from local suppliers, keeping business as local as possible. We have renovated the kitchen and co-working space and break out space to make sure that you can enjoy modern ways of working in this classic building.

Interested? We have one of our most sought-after offices available from January 2023.

Call us on 033 344 8004 for a tour or email us at newenquiries@wrkspace.co.uk

We look forward to hearing from you!

From 1935 to 2022
Published

10/11/2022

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