A group of Bradford students have grand designs about following in the footsteps of their school's famous former pupil Linda Barker and become interior designers.

But whereas Linda, one of the stars of BBC's Changing Rooms transforms one room, these future designers will have a hand in a £4.3 million conversion of a Victorian school.

Yesterday, a class of design and technology pupils at the Girls' Grammar School, Bradford, were shown around the century-old former Hanson School in Barkerend Lane.

The two imposing listed buildings, which have been vacant for 18 months, will be converted in lightning speed into 68 stylish apartments, including six penthouses, by April 2004.

Architect Andrew Mason, managing director of New Mason Properties, hopes to incorporate their ideas into the renovation.

"They will be luxury apartments with spiral staircases, retaining a lot of the original features," he said. "Windows will be replaced, but their geometry retained. We are sure the girls can offer lots of ideas we can use."

The school became involved through another of the company's directors, Alec Newsham, of Ilkley, whose 14-year-old daughter Jennifer is a pupil.

Carrying measuring tapes and pencils, the students wandered excitedly among the rubble, torn-down blackboards, broken suspended ceiling tiles, parquet floors and pitted window panes, scribbling down inventive fixtures and fittings.

They have been tasked with designing a two-bedroom apartment in the newly-named Byron Studios building or a three-bedroom apartment in the larger Byron Halls.

Prizes of £50 will be given to the pupil producing the best innovative feature and best overall design.

Hanson School, originally Byron Street School, was named after Victorian businessman James Hanson, who introduced new subjects such as science and languages to the strict three Rs curriculum in Bradford.

David Webster, head of design at the Girls' Grammar School, said he had great affection for the buildings because he taught there when it was Pollard Park Middle School in the early 1970s.

"This is a wonderful opportunity for our future architects and designers to get a taste of a real life project," he said. "Coming here, the class has got a real sense of what it is all about."

Mr Mason, 42, told the students: "This is a stone building with very thick walls because the Victorians over-specified everything. Designs could not be tested beforehand on computers like they can now."

The apartments the girls will help design have a mezzanine floor linked by a spiral staircase and exposed roof trusses.

Francesca Statt, 14, of Silsden, and Jennifer Newsham, both hope to one day run their own interior design companies..

"I am concentrating on opening up space and using pale colours to make it bright. I also want to make the floor different heights. This would be my dream home," said Francesca.

Sana Sheikh, 13, of Heaton, Bradford, was particularly interested to see the old school building because her father Shakeel was a pupil there.

"I can imagine apartments here, but it needs a lot of work," she said.

Apartments will be on sale by next month with prices ranging from £60,000 to the £250,000 three-floor penthouse apartments which has panoramic views across the city.