An historic Grade II-listed building which was once used to shelter vulnerable children in Victorian times could be transformed into classrooms for students attending Liverpool Hope University.
The townhouse in Islington Square, which dates back to the 1830s and was formerly home to the Liverpool Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, was last used as an NHS medical centre before being purchased by the university in 2017.
An application has now been submitted to Liverpool City Council for the building to be converted into an education facility provide an additional 9074 ftsq of teaching space within the Liverpool Hope University Creative Campus.
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A heritage statement from conservation consultants Kathryn Sather and Associates said the proposal would have "a negligable magnitude of change" on the Shaw Street conservation area, where the building is located.
A spokesman said: "The proposed works are for a change of use of the building, and so there will be no change to key historic building elements.
"The proposed change of use will allow no.3 Islington Square, which is currently vacant, to be used for the provision of education, an appropriate new use. This is beneficial to both the building and the conservation area."
The earliest known owner of no.3 Islington Square was a British merchant and financier called Elias Mocatta, who made his fortune trading with Venezuela and other South American countries, and lived in the house between 1839 and 1949 before moving to Birkenhead. In 1851, the house was occupied by a surgeon called William Bainbridge, his family and four servants. A GP, Charles Bowman Wilson, and his family lived there from 1861 until 1881. Afterwards, the building was acquired by the Liverpool Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, a precursor to the NSPCC, and was used as a shelter from 1885 until 1944.
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