The Grade II-listed front of Newspaper House, the former Swindon Advertiser offices at 99 and 100 Victoria Road in Old Town, would become two ground-floor commercial units with three two-bedroom flats above under plans from owner Thornsett Group Ltd, Swindon24 reported on Wednesday 19 August 2026, citing council planning documents.
What is proposed?
- Two commercial units on the ground floor of the Victoria Road frontage.
- Three two-bedroom apartments: two on the first floor and one on the second.
- The unused entrance to No.99 reopened as separate access to the flats.
- Period features kept, including historic cornices, with parts of the historic roof structure exposed.
What about the earlier building work?
The documents say work carried out under a previous developer went beyond what had been approved. It included removing a late-20th-century mezzanine and putting in a new staircase through No.99. Thornsett bought the building after that work was done.
Boris van der Ree, the council's Design and Conservation Officer, rated the resulting heritage harm at a "very low level". He described the removal of the mezzanine, which had cut across the building's Venetian windows, as an "overall enhancement", and concluded the new scheme would bring a "net benefit to the special architectural character and historic interest" of the building. He raised no objection, subject to detailed designs for new doors and staircases.
The wider site
Permission already exists to convert other office space at Newspaper House into 21 homes. The later extensions behind the frontage were excluded from the listing in 2017 and are covered by separate proposals.
The Swindon Advertiser, founded in 1854, was at No.99 by 1870. The last newspaper was printed at the Victoria Road works in 2000.
Source: Swindon24.