The former Chester Visitor Centre and Café, at the junction of Little St John Street and Vicars Lane, is to become the new home of a specialist architectural 3D visualisation company.
Work is underway to transform the Victorian building, which once housed St John’s School, into a modern office environment for Visualisation One, who also have offices in London.
The firm will move from its existing offices in Linenhall in Chester.
Speaking on behalf of owners Grosvenor Estate, commercial property manager at the Eaton Estate Rupert Collis said: “This will be a high quality office building in the heart of Chester.
“We are seeing increased demand for office space and we are pleased to say that an exciting new tenant, Visualisation One, has agreed a 10 year lease and will be moving into the property at the end of January 2016 following completion of the refurbishment.
“The project will create 4,864 sq ft of offices with 12 parking spaces.”
Visualisation One is a specialist architectural 3D visualisation and animation company which produces computer generated images and videos for use in the design, planning and marketing industries.
Managing director Vincent Flynn said: “We’ve been established in Chester for 16 years but have outgrown our current premises. The former St John’s School building will mean our expanding team can continue to produce award winning work whilst retaining our presence in the city. é
“We are delighted to be working with the Eaton Estate to breathe new life in to such a well known Chester landmark.”
History of the building
According to The National Archives, Robert Grosvenor paid for school buildings to be erected on the site. The school was opened in 1813 when it was known as the Earl and Countess Grosvenor’s School.
In August 1883 a new school building was opened called St John’s School – also financed by the Duke of Westminster at the time.
The school was closed in July 1964 but continued as an annexe to Love Street Girls’ School until 1967.
In recent years it was used as Chester Visitor Centre and Café.
