Great  Northern Hotel Ltd redevelopment of the Great Northern Hotel on Station Road in  Peterborough, designed by architects Assael, has been granted outline planning  permission.
 The  project on a 0.75 hectare site opposite Peterborough Railway Station fulfils  Peterborough City Council’s aspiration to regenerate the area around the  station. The 20,700 sq m scheme would create a mixed used office-led quarter  that re-connects the station to the city centre.
 The  33-room Great Northern Hotel was built in 1852 and is one of the very few  original structures in the City of Peterborough, which dates from the early days  of the railways, and still contains many original features. The proposed scheme  therefore proposes to retain the building and preserve its important historical  features, while maximising the area’s economic potential within the context of  today’s city of Peterborough.
 The  scheme includes:
- New office space and residential units.
- Adding further hotel facilities, including 60 extra rooms.
- Creating a new public square at the station’s entrance.
- Creating a new commercial building for café and retail use.
- Improving the pedestrian experience of moving between the station and town centre.
- Building a pedestrian link to the city across Bourges Boulevard.
- Landscaping the garden to the front of the existing hotel.
- Providing 51 car parking spaces.
John  Assael, managing director of Assael, said: “The development is a key element in  the delivery of the ‘station quarter’ around Peterborough Railway Station.  It  will help to create an impressive and inviting gateway, connected to the centre  and set in a new public realm.”
 The  development will be high sustainable, with a BREEAM Excellent rating. Energy  efficiency approaches to reduce CO2 emissions will include solar control  measures in the facades to reduce energy consumption passively and ventilation  systems with heat exchanges.
 The  scheme will also feature tree planting, a green a roof and a sustainable waste  management strategy.