A centuries-old Arbroath church building is at the centre of a bid for nine new town centre flats.
The former Erskine Church in Commerce Street was originally built in 1821.
It continued as a place of worship until closing in 1985.
In 1990, it was purchased by local architect Heinz Voigt, who embarked on a major transformation of the B-listed building.
Former guild rooms at the rear of the church – a stone’s throw from Arbroath High Street – became his architect’s studio and the main ground floor was converted into office space.
Church turned into award-winning business centre
In 2010, planning permission was granted for a new project to create a wine bar and business centre.
The award-winning project was completed two years later.
Voigt Architects moved out of the building to a new base at Arbroath harbour and the building was put on the market in 2022.
However, there has been little interest in it as a commercial opportunity.
The architectural firm has now been engaged by a local developer to draw up the residential proposal.
Exterior of listed church to remain unchanged
It aims to create nine two-bedroom flats over the three floors of the building, which backs onto Arbroath’s Webster Theatre.
There will be no alterations to the exterior of the listed building.
Internally, the project will utilise much of the timber structure which was put in place for the 2010 works.
The main access to all the flats will be from the north entrance on Commerce Street, with stairs leading to all three floors.
There is no garden space for the properties, but the applicants say this is outweighed by the re-use of the redundant town centre property.
The limited room around the old church has also led to a proposal to recess four larger Euro bins at the front of the church. It will overcome the prospect of around 30 bins for the nine flats.
The applicants say off-street parking is available at a number of nearby locations.
Angus Council will consider the proposal in due course.
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