05 Opportunity area

Albert Street

For many people arriving by train, Albert Street is their first experience of Rugby town centre. The route links the railway station with the town centre and is used every day.

An empty, fenced-off plot beside a three-storey brick and glass office building, with houses and trees behind it, seen from across the road on a sunny day.

The plans focus on bringing vacant land back into use and improving the route into Rugby from the station; as the wider programme develops, the area could provide new homes and improve walking and cycling between the station and the town centre.

Framework plan for the Albert Street area. A full description follows. — Framework plan for the Albert Street area.

Read a full description of this plan

The plan shows the Albert Street area inside a red site boundary: a site on the south side of Albert Street, from Albert Square on the right to the corner with Regent Place, then down Albert Street to James Street. The numbers and colours follow the key.

1: potential homes, phase 1 (2 to 4 storeys), a long building along Albert Street with a private green space or car park behind it.

2: potential homes on the existing Job Centre site, a future phase (3 to 4 storeys), at the corner of Albert Street and Regent Place. The corner is marked as a proposed landmark.

The lower part of the site, towards James Street, contains retained buildings, with existing trees at the James Street corner. A listed building stands at the Albert Square end, beside a positively contributing historic building.

Movement:

A pedestrian route to Rugby railway station runs around the back of site 1, past Albert Square and along Albert Street towards the station.

Vehicular access enters the back of site 1.

Pedestrian routes run along Regent Place to the corner of site 2, and from Albert Street to Henry Street, James Street and Castle Mews.

Large arrows show the town centre link to the south-west and the Rugby railway station link to the north-east.

Land across Albert Street and along Railway Terrace is residential or mixed use beyond the site. Land west of Albert Street and south of James Street is town centre use beyond the site.

New homes at Albert Street

The area already has a mix of homes, community facilities and workplaces. The Delivery Plan identifies opportunities to retain this mix while bringing long-vacant land back into use. The first phase centres on the Council-owned former Victoria House site, identified as suitable for new housing in the Submission Local Plan, with early proposals suggesting around 25 homes in buildings of two to four storeys. Parking would be incorporated within the development where appropriate, without dominating the street.

Walking and cycling connections

Improving this station-to-centre connection forms part of the wider programme: better walking and cycling routes, improved public spaces and new development to improve the appearance of the route. The wider project area includes existing community facilities such as The Exchange, Kings Court and Queens Court, and employment uses including the Jobcentre. There are no current proposals to change these facilities.

The area today

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Albert Street looking north
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Vacant site on Albert Street
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Vacant site on Albert Street

Albert Street reimagined

Timeline

What happens next

The Victoria House site could be developed first, as work on it would not depend on surrounding land. Further design work, technical surveys and planning approvals will be needed. Development of other sites will depend on future opportunities and discussions with landowners. The project is smaller than some other schemes but could create new homes and improve a main route into the centre.

Other opportunity areas

For more information on our work to regenerate Rugby town centre, please contact the Major Projects and Regeneration Team.

Contact the team