Member Article

University plans £35m development at Barras Bridge

Newcastle University is seeking permission for a new development at Barras Bridge as part of the ‘Cultural Quarter’ initiative. If permission is granted, a five-storey, glass-fronted building will be erected on the site of the car park next to Northern Stage theatre, facing Newcastle Civic Centre across Barras Bridge.

The new building would include a visitor centre on the ground floor, where information could be obtained about the University and also the Cultural Quarter, which is centred on the Barras Bridge area of the university campus. The Cultural Quarter includes the Northern Stage theatre, the Great North Museum, the Northern Writers’ Centre and the recently opened Culture Lab. The development of the Cultural Quarter and the opening up of the campus are part of a plan drawn up by Sir Terry Farrell, one of the UK’s best known architects and a former Newcastle student.

The total cost of the project is expected to be £35m, of which £2m would be spent on landscaping and improving the ‘public realm’ features around the building, to make the campus more accessible to pedestrians via the Barras Bridge entrance to King’s Walk. A decision from Newcastle City Council on planning permission is expected towards the end of June. Work is expected to start in Spring 2008 and be completed in Autumn 2009.

The Vice-Chancellor, Professor Christopher Edwards, said: “We have now had the strong endorsement of the Newcastle Conservation Advisory Panel who have applauded the approach that the University has taken to this very sensitive site. They stated that ‘The Panel looks forward to seeing the design develop to become a building which could stand out amongst its peers in the UK’.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .