A Sheppey building of “worldwide importance” has been named on a top 10 most endangered buildings list.

The Victorian Society revealed the Sheerness Boat Store at the dockyard is on its at risk register for 2015. The group’s vice-president, comedian-turned-presenter Griff Rhys Jones, launched the list last week via a video posted online. It includes Victorian and Edwardian buildings in England and Wales.

The society is urging the owners of the Grade I-listed site – Peel Ports – to seek inspiration from the way former naval buildings are re-used at Chatham Dockyard to give it a future use.

The disused boat store is the world’s earliest surviving example of a multi-storey, iron-frame and panel structure, following the destruction of the Crystal Palace and the first South Kensington Museum.

Completed in 1860, it was the world’s first multi-storey building with an all-metal frame. The structure was made rigid through pioneering use of portal bracing, which is a form of support which enables there to be a large area without too many columns.

It left a big mark in the architectural worlds and the technique was subsequently adopted by early skyscrapers in Chicago and became universally used in modern steel-framed buildings.

The site is now in need of a use.

Victorian Society director Christopher Costelloe said: “We’re grateful to everyone who nominated Sheerness Boat Store.

“Like all the buildings included in this year’s top 10, the boat store is listed, meaning the government has recognised its national importance.“But the Grade I-listed boat store has worldwide importance – it is an architectural pioneer.

“It deserves better than its current anonymity. I urge the public to share the top 10 list, and Griff’s message, to help raise awareness of these buildings and help find the solutions they so desperately need.”