Member Article

Toffee Factory RIBA Awards success

The Royal Institute of British Architects recognised the architectural excellence of the redevelopment of Toffee Factory, putting in the running for the architecture’s prestigious Stirling Prize.

The former sweet factory, now a centre for creative businesses was honoured with three 2012 RIBA Awards in recognition of its architectural excellence. For its redevelopment of Toffee Factory Xsite Architecture gained a RIBA Award, one of 58 National Awards and which means that it goes forward on to the longlist for the Stirling Prize.

It was also awarded RIBA North East Sustainable Building of the Year and RIBA North East Building of the Year at the RIBA North ceremony in Leeds last night (20 June 2012).

The RIBA Awards have been running continuously since 1966 with the RIBA Award winning schemes setting the standard for great architecture all across the country. The Stirling Prize is known as the Oscars of Architecture and the 2012 Stirling Prize winner will be announced 13 October 2012.

Lisa Tolan, Centre Manager of Toffee Factory, for Creative Space Management said:

“We were delighted with RIBA’s recognition of the redevelopment of Toffee Factory with three RIBA North awards last night, and excited to now be in the running for the highly coveted Stirling Prize for Architecture.“

The refurbishment of the old Victorian factory was led by Xsite Architecture, an Ouseburn based practice. It has produced a blend of bold design and exposed brickwork and had already scooped a number of architectural and design awards, including Project of the Year, Regeneration and highly commended in Design and Innovation and Commercial categories in the North East RICs awards.

Tim Bailey, lead architect of the project from Xsite Architecture added:

“Peer group recognition is always very exciting but we recognise there is a team behind the success of this building and want to share this Awards recognition with them. It was a great project to work on, its impact in the Ouseburn is tangible and we would be delighted to see it become a catalyst for further regeneration of the Valley and East Newcastle.__“

RIBA judges said:

“The derelict toffee factory, with trees growing out of its ruined shell, has been reincarnated as a managed work space for the creative industries and is almost fully let. It has become a landmark in the regeneration of the Ouseburn Valley and a significant addition to Newcastle’s architectural legacy.

“The original building fabric has been restored, including the distinctive chimney, and an additional floor has been added. The demands of energy conservation have led to an interesting chequerboard of insulation alternating between inside and out, so one is always aware of the original structure. “

Toffee Factory provides creative and digital studio space for growing businesses. Its contemporary office spaces, which opened in December 2011 in the refurbished Maynards Toffee Factory located at the mouth of the Ouseburn Valley, is now home to twenty creative businesses.

Toffee Factory is owned by Newcastle City Council and operated by multi-award winning company Creative Space Management. The development cost £6m and was funded by Regional Development Agency One North East through ERDF Single Programme, the European Union’s ERDF Competitiveness Programme 2007-13 and Newcastle City Council funding.

Toffee Factory builds upon the Ouseburn Valley’s existing ecology of creative businesses and is a gateway development that connects the valley to the cultural regeneration of Quayside.

For more information on Toffee Factory see www.toffeefactory.co.uk

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Cait Read .