Planning papers for Newspaper House, at 99 and 100 Victoria Road, show alterations by a previous owner went beyond those approved for the Grade II-listed building.
The details have emerged as current owner Thornsett Group Ltd seeks permission for the latest stage of a wider redevelopment of the former newspaper headquarters.
Plans submitted to Swindon Borough Council would create two commercial units on the ground floor of the listed Victoria Road frontage, with three two-bedroom apartments above.
Boris van der Ree, the council’s Design and Conservation Officer, said a previous developer had permission to refurbish the offices, but work “progressed well beyond the scope of the granted consent”.
The alterations included removing a late-20th-century mezzanine and installing a new staircase through No.99 Victoria Road.
The staircase resulted in the loss of building fabric through the floors.
Mr van der Ree wrote: “While I appreciate the damage has been done, I must also conclude a degree of heritage harm has occurred by the unauthorised insertion of the staircase.”
The significance of the material removed is unknown and that part of Newspaper House had already undergone substantial alterations.
As a result, the conservation officer assessed the heritage harm as being at a “very low level”.
A heritage statement commissioned by Thornsett also criticised the standard of some of the previous work.
It described the unauthorised staircase as “of very poor quality”, while other work was “clearly of a poor standard and not to the benefit of the character of the building”.
The report states Thornsett acquired Newspaper House after the works had taken place and later discovered various alterations did not comply with approved schemes.
Its architects and heritage consultants have since developed proposals to address some of the changes and obtain consent to retain or replace others.
Despite the heritage harm, the council’s conservation officer has raised no objection to the latest plans.
Some of the previous alterations are considered to have improved significant parts of the listed building, including the removal of a modern mezzanine in No.100.
The inserted floor had cut across the building’s Venetian windows and divided what had originally been a double-height space.
Under the new proposals, the mezzanine would not return.
Mr van der Ree said its removal resulted in an “overall enhancement” by restoring the first-floor area to its historic double height.
Historic cornices and other surviving architectural features would also be retained.
The conservation officer concluded that the scheme would provide a “net benefit to the special architectural character and historic interest” of Newspaper House.
No conservation objection has been recommended, subject to detailed designs for new doors and staircases being approved.
At ground-floor level, the Victoria Road frontage would become two commercial premises.
The unused entrance to No.99 would be reopened to provide separate access to the apartments, with bin, bicycle and services rooms also proposed.
Two two-bedroom apartments would be created on the first floor.
One would feature a large open-plan kitchen, living and dining area in one of the building’s most historically significant spaces, with period features retained and parts of the historic roof structure exposed.
A second two-bedroom apartment would occupy another part of the first floor, while a third would be created on the second floor.
The application relates only to the listed section at the front of Newspaper House.
Large later extensions behind it were excluded from the Grade II listing following a reassessment by Historic England in 2017 and are covered by separate redevelopment proposals.
Planning documents state permission has already been granted to convert existing office accommodation elsewhere in Newspaper House into 21 homes under application S/PAOTH/25/1336.
They also reference residential development approved under S/19/0442 and later amended through S/25/1671, alongside a separate proposal for a ground-floor car park.
Thornsett intends for the different schemes to form a cohesive redevelopment of the former newspaper site.
However, the documents contain conflicting figures for the eventual number of homes.
One section refers to “circa 45 apartments”, while another says the development would contain 48.
Elsewhere, the documents list three apartments under the latest proposal, 21 under S/PAOTH/25/1336 and 28 under S/19/0442 – a total of 52.
The planning papers therefore do not establish a consistent final number of homes across the wider development.
The Swindon Advertiser was founded by William Morris in 1854 and was operating from No.99 Victoria Road by 1870.
No.99 and No.100 were originally separate buildings before becoming part of the expanding newspaper complex.
The site continued to develop as newspaper production changed, with the final newspaper printed at the Victoria Road works in 2000.
The Advertiser later moved to offices at Edison Office Park in Dorcan.
Mr van der Ree said Newspaper House continues to make a “strong positive contribution” to the character of Old Town through its materials and classical architecture.
The latest plans could see commercial premises return to its Victoria Road frontage while the upper floors are brought back into use as homes.
