Architecture students have shown off their ideas for bringing a town's forgotten canal back into use.

Burslem Branch Canal once ran between the Mother Town and the Trent and Mersey Canal, helping to carry Stoke-on-Trent's pottery to customers around the world.

But the canal was closed in 1962 and subsequently in-filled, and now there is little evidence that it was ever there.

Burslem Port Trust is campaigning for the canal to be reopened, saying it could boost tourism and the local economy while restoring an important part of the city's industrial heritage.

Trust members have been working with architecture students at Staffordshire University, who have drawn up proposals for the canal and port as part of their course.

Their completed projects, including plans, models and detailed computer generated images, are now on display as part of the university's degree show.

While the students' work is speculative – restoring Burlem's canal and port will cost millions of pounds – BPT members believe their proposals demonstrate what can be achieved, and how it could benefit Burslem.

David Broome, BPT design director and a retired architect himself, is very impressed with the students' projects. He said: "About a year ago I got in touch with the course leader and asked if this would be of interest to the architecture department, which is brand new.

"This is only its second degree year, and they want the publicity just as much as we do. In October I came in with my crude drawings and it really got them interested. Five of the students chose to do their projects on Burslem canal.

"What I've seen here is just inspiring stuff. All of it is so exciting. From an architect's point of view, the amount of work they're producing is phenomenal, compared to what I did in my third year at university."

Proposals to restore Burslem Port, produced by Staffordshire University architecture student Finlay Cousins as part of his course. (Pete Stonier)

BPT previously secured £50,000 of funding from Stoke-on-Trent City Council and the Canal and River Trust for creating a new footpath at the site. But despite the council's aspirations to make better use of the city's canals, the Burslem project has made little progress over the years.

The trust's current focus is on restoring the warehouse building which used to stand next to the canal – it is currently occupied by a waste recycling company. Mr Broome says that if funding is secured, the building could be developed with shops, a cafe and an exhibition space.

Future phases would include reopening the canal itself and creating a basin next to the warehouse. The architecture students were invited to come up with their own ideas for restoring Burslem Port, balancing respect for the site's heritage with present-day concerns.

Bradley O'Donoghue, who is from Burslem, was excited to take on the project, being very familiar with the town's heritage buildings. His 'grounded' vision includes restoring the warehouse and building two new structures, with cast iron chains and lampposts reflecting the site's Victorian past.

He said: "My interpretation of the brief was to keep the heritage of Burslem – I think that's what is most important. I decided to keep the existing warehouse as the central focus of the whole site, building around it not taking from it.

"This was a passion project for me, it was something I really enjoyed working on. This is something I want to focus on as an architect, regenerating my home town and Stoke-on-Trent in general.

"I walk through Burslem a lot, and all it needs is a budget and some imagination, and it could be such a beautiful place. Burslem was so important because of the pottery industry, but it's sort of been left and forgotten."

Keenan Weller took a more radical approach, proposing to demolish the warehouse and replace it with three new buildings, housing a gift shop, a museum and a cafe. But he pays homage to the warehouse's 'iconic' trusses with similar structures in his buildings.

He said: "Our brief was about the regeneration of Burslem and reintroducing the port, and I thought the best way I could do that was bringing something brand new to the area.

"So I've got this parametric roof that resembles an upturned canal boat, as well as nature-inspired architecture. The site is surrounded by nature so I wanted to create a blend between architecture and nature."

Finlay Cousins says his approach was to maintain the history of the site while making it useful for the modern day, taking inspiration from Trentham Gardens as a shopping centre and tourist attraction. His vision would see part of the warehouse turned into a design and technology classroom for teaching traditional canal trade, with a chandlery catering for the boating community.

Islam Abohela, architecture course leader at Staffordshire University, explained that third year students all worked 'live projects' for clients in the real world. Dr Abohela said: "When BPT contacted us we thought this was an excellent opportunity for us to work on a live project. We took the students and visited the site, and Dave regularly gave them feedback on their work.

"We know the importance of Burslem in Stoke-on-Trent. The site itself offered many challenges and opportunities for our students, and they've dealt with it in different ways."

Other architecture students worked with Urban Wilderness on a project in Longton town centre.

The degree show runs at Staffordshire University until Saturday, June 7.

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