Student flats plan for former city library building

The old Central Library was formerly owned by Nottingham City Council

The former Nottingham Central Library could be turned into student accommodation and retail units under new plans.

The building in Angel Row was sold by Nottingham City Council to Harington Students Ltd after a previous attempt to sell the site fell through.

The plans show it could be transformed into flats consisting of 165 bed spaces, including 53 one-bedroom studios and 29 shared cluster flats.

Developers hope the building will be finished and open for the 2026/27 academic year, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS).

The site closed in March 2020 due to pandemic restrictions but never reopened.

A new £10m library featuring a café, conference rooms, an immersive cinema room and more than 180,000 books opened in Collin Street in November 2023.

The new three-storey Nottingham Central Library also has 58 computers and free Wi-Fi

The former library building, which was constructed between 1898 and 1899, started being used as a library in 1977.

A planning statement read: "The developer was awarded the purchase of the building from Nottingham City Council via competitive tender.

"It is understood the other parties were all proposing to demolish the existing building, apart from the Angel Row frontage, in order to facilitate a new building on the site."

WA Architecture, on behalf of Harington Students Ltd, said the building will include a manned-office as well as a car park and 48 spaces for bicycles.

It will also feature a sports bar, gym, spa, games room, karaoke room, golf simulator room, cinema and other entertainment spaces.

Retail units on the ground floor will include a kitchen and will be used for hot food takeaways.

The city council previously planned to appoint architects to turn the former library into "a flexible workspace for creative businesses".