Plans to turn Victorian town-centre building into 18-bedroom hostel
A scheme to turn a 19th-century town-centre warehouse into an 18-bedroom hostel will be considered by planners.
Plans have been submitted to renovate and extend the Victorian outbuildings behind Brierley Hill High Street to create an 18-bedroom house of multiple occupation.
Architect Richard Garside said that at the time of the Industrial Revolution the area between High Street and Albion Street would have been occupied by a number of such buildings, but these were the only ones that had survived.
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"The use of these buildings is not known but their existence indicates the commercial opportunity that owners of properties fronting Albion Street saw in providing small-scale commercial premises to support and compliment those of the High Street Itself," he said.
The site, in a conservation area, consists of a three-storey 19th century building with large arched windows, a two-storey 1960s blockwork structure, and two-storey Victorian annex near the gated entrance from Albion Street.
Mr Garside said the older buildings were of some historic value as a record of what the area would have been like in the past.
If the plans are approved, the older building will be renovated to provide space for 18 bedrooms, with the 10ft floor-to-ceiling windows adjusted to allow for the creation of an additional floor.
The adjoining modern building would provide a communal bathroom and dining area on each floor, while the smaller adjacent building would provide a games room and office.
"These buildings are principally the only remaining structures of what were an extensive line of outbuildings built in the late 19th century running from near Talbot Street in the north towards Moor Street in the south," said Mr Garside.
"It is understood these buildings have been unoccupied and in increasingly derelict condition since the 2000s.
"Without physical intervention and urgent repair, their retention as testament to the heritage significance of the Brierley Hill High Street conservation area is potentially in serious doubt."
Mr Garside said that restoring the buildings to secure their future was likely to require significant funding.
"These proposals seek permission to provide a new use for these buildings affording the funds the necessary repairs and more critically provide a commercially viable and sustainable use for these heritage assets," he said.
