New view of town's £23m buildings

The revised design, which may get the go-ahead from planners, sees the £23 million office, shop and cafe complex clad in stone, rather than the reddish terracotta brick shown in earlier designs.

This image shows the view from the Riverway side of South Walls, looking across to St Chad's Church, visible between the two buildings.

Birmingham-based developer Stoford, which is dealing with the architecture, says it changed the exterior of the building after listening to the views of Staffordians.

It held a consultation event in the town centre in December and says it took on board criticism, including some from Express & Star readers who branded buildings "ugly" and out of character with Stafford's historic town centre.

Stoford says the stone exterior will ensure buildings "sit more easily" within the historic townscape. Buildings retain a "boxy" design which proved unpopular with some residents.

The developer also says the scheme has environmentally-friendly credentials, achieving top ratings for cutting energy use. A planning application for the scheme, involving 17,000 sq ft of shops and cafes and 145,000 sq ft of offices for county council staff, will be lodged with Stafford Borough Council's planning committee in April.

If approval is given, work on the complex, on the current site of Tipping Street car park, will begin in June. Stoford director Tony Nash said: "The Tipping Street scheme will bring about the biggest-ever transformation in Stafford's history, revitalising historic sites and landmark buildings to create one of the region's most attractive towns in which to live, work and shop."

Last month, the Express & Star reported campaigners fighting for a central bus station in Stafford wanted the development to be scrapped. Instead, they said a bus station should be built, insisting there are enough offices and shops.

Their calls came after the county council said a central bus station was not viable, partly due to the limited availability and expense of land in the town centre. Instead, they are doing a feasibility study to see if sites on the edge of town can be made into terminals for a park and ride scheme.

Campaigners included Councillor Chris Baron, who questioned the need for more retail and cafe space at a time when more and more shops are closing due to the recession.

In November, an Express & Star poll found Staffordians branding the original Tipping Street designs "ugly", "dreadful" and "monstrous". Artists impressions showing the buildings with the original terracotta exterior were also compared to an American prison.

Christine Dalziel, aged 64, of Rugeley, works at Stafford's Breaks Cafe. She said: "It's dreadful and I think you're going to hear that from everybody. People love to see things like the Ancient High House – they don't want to see that. It's horrible." Stafford man Steve Braithwaite, 46, said the design lacked imagination. He said: "Stafford is a bit run down and could do with a few new shops but it's just another box to me."