This fine office building by Alfred Waterhouse is now at risk.
Grade II-listed, 1889, A. Waterhouse & Son
The Prudential Assurance Company was wildly successful in the second half of the nineteenth century and it commissioned offices for many of Britain’s newly wealthy industrial cities. This fine building is noted as one of the most comprehensive and architecturally significant examples, designed by the architect of the Natural History Museum and Manchester Town Hall, Alfred Waterhouse. The product of a comprehensive design strategy, extending across a range of scales – from the elevations to the cabinetry – the building employs an extensive material palette, which includes redbrick, terracotta, timber, and ceramic tiles. It has no formalised style, incorporating elements from the the Classical, Gothic, and Byzantine traditions, and is noted for its colourful tiled interior, designed to impress potential customers – and still effective today. Elsewhere, the Prudential Assurance Company’s buildings have been sensitively altered and reused, addressing a growing demand for office space in town centres, but the example in Oldham remains empty and in a poor state. Union Street was refurbished in 2014 when a Metrolink tram stop opened in front of the building, but the building remains uninviting and a sensitive conservation-led redevelopment is long overdue.
Christopher Costelloe, Director of the The Victorian Society, said ‘Oldham is a town with a rich heritage and huge potential for regeneration, potential which the Council has really begun to engage with. The ‘Pru’ is such a prominent building that a scheme to return it to use could kick-start heritage-based regeneration in Oldham Town Centre. We strongly urge the local authority to put pressure on the owner to pursue a scheme of reuse, and if necessary to consider enforcement action or compulsory purchase.’