THIS is what Gloucester prison could look like after the inmates have moved out.
Leading city architect Jeff Roberts has drawn up this image of how the wings which have housed prisoners for around two centuries could be transformed for the future.
The boss of upmarket hotel chain Malmaison has expressed an interest in converting the jail into a hotel but it won't close until the end of March and it's future is unclear.
Mr Roberts, a director of Roberts Limbrick Architects, said it should be possible to transform the building, parts of which are Grade II Listed.
"We sought to produce an image that suggested how a listed building like this might be made very current and exciting without damaging the original fabric and without fixing on a specific use," he said.
"The building could be used as a hotel, headquarters offices, enterprise offices for start up businesses, or an educational facility.
"I imagine that there will be pressure in the current climate to sell it to the private sector for alternative uses.
"Because the site is a complex of different types and ages of building, I think there will be a mix of new uses.
"A developer will seek to get the highest value uses that will suit the existing buildings and site and that will work in this location. The key to making it work for a private developer will be cost and value."
The Ministry of Justice's snap announcement that the 321-inmate jail will close at the end of March took many by surprise. Since then city leaders have mulled over its future, with a hotel a favourite.
