Plans Underway to Transform Reading Prison

The early planning stages to transform Reading Prison into a cultural hub are in progress two years after it was purchased by a Chinese billionaire.

Plans to turn Reading Prison — aka Reading Gaol — into a cultural hub are in the early stages, two years after the site was bought by a Chinese billionaire.

The jail, which had been largely unused since inmates left in 2013 and the site closed a year later, sits near the town centre next to Forbury Gardens and the Abbey Ruins.

It was sold in January 2024 to the Ziran Education Foundation after a Ministry of Justice bidding process. Chinese billionaire Channing Bi is reported to have paid £7 million for the site.

Mr Bi bought the prison for the Ziran Education Foundation, which says it hopes to create "The ReCentre" — an art space and boutique hotel. The foundation is holding private consultations with stakeholders, including Reading Borough Council, and is revising an initial concept by an Italian architect.

Matt Rodda, the Labour MP for Reading Central, told BBC Berkshire: “The original architect was based in Italy and, while that architect had some wonderful ideas, obviously there are some practical issues with the existing site. “What I understand is that there’s a competition going on to find another architect and, apparently, at that point we’ve been told there’ll be some plans we can look at.”

In further comments to the Local Democracy Reporting Service Mr Rodda added: “Reading Gaol is our most important historic building and it has amazing potential. “I hope that the project to restore it and use it for arts and heritage can make real progress this year, and I understand that the new owner is selecting a new architect to work on drawing up plans. “I hope this process can be completed soon, and I am looking forward to meeting the new architect.”

The site has long been linked with arts and culture: Oscar Wilde was imprisoned there from 1895 to 1897, it opened for the Artangel exhibition in 2016, and in 2021 illusive street artist Bansky stencilled the ‘Create Escape’ image on the Gaol wall.

In October 2024 the Local Democracy Reporting Service was given a private tour of the Gaol by the Ziran Education Foundation, Mr Bi, Mr Rodda and former mayor Tony Page. The visit included standing in the cell where Oscar Wilde was held; parts of the prison were decorated with Tibetan prayer flags and other ornaments.

The foundation’s website states The ReCentre will “serve as a paean to unfettered creative expression, a refuge for artists worldwide who face persecution.”

James Aldridge, Local Democracy Reporter