I see that the Daily Mail & General Trust (DMGT) is getting a little heat over its decision to demolish an old newspaper office in Plymouth.
According to a HoldTheFrontPage report, the company has applied to the city’s council to pull down the building known as the “big glass ship”.
Described as an iconic structure, it was designed by Sir Nicholas Grimshaw, famed for designing London’s Waterloo station and the Eden Project in Cornwall.
The building was home to the Western Morning News and Plymouth Herald for 20 years until 2013. The titles were sold off to Local World but DMGT retained ownership of the building, which has remained unused ever since.
Evidently, at least one councillor is unhappy about the proposed demolition. Maddi Bridgeman told the Herald she was “horrified” and “shocked”, saying: “It would be madness to knock it down. The architecture is amazing. It is a beautiful building”.
And architect Robert Brown, head of Plymouth university’s architecture school, is also upset. He said: “My first reaction is ‘wow, that is really sad’. Plymouth is known as a place of innovation. To lose a distinctive building would feel like a step back”.
Most commenters to the Herald website seem to agree.
Sources: HTFP/Plymouth Herald
