Nothing says neglect like broken windows. The blank staring eyes of their buildings, fractured shards, often with a destructive quiff of buddleia. Every city has these lost buildings, over the years they come and go, a marker of an area's fortunes. It is oddly unsettling seeing such degradation in our shopping centres and major high streets; thus the window stickers promising and inviting activity with bright shots of happy shoppers and glowing cafes. Can the echoing empty floors of Debenhams and House of Fraser find new life as laboratories, student rooms and hotels, or offices? Their owners have been brainstorming and business planning for the last couple of years. There are challenges; deep floor plates with dark hearts, a very particular sort of access split between pedestrian front doors to the street and behind the scenes loading bays.
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