Member Article

Developer to Unveil New Plans After Consultation

The developer planning to renovate and extend a famous historic building in Newcastle into a business hub and conference centre is ready to unveil exciting and revised plans after extensive consultation.

Pendower Hall Limited wants to breathe life back into the Grade II listed building, which has stood empty for a decade by transforming it into a hub for business development.

Providing a range of state of the art office accommodation with onsite finance and technology support it plans to include an exhibition, conference and event venue for up to 450 people.

Exhibitions of the proposals in late 2016 were followed by extensive public consultation during 2017, together they have helped to refine the designs for refurbishing and adapting the former home of the Pease family into a business campus suitable for creating jobs and inward investment. Feedback from adjacent residents to have more light into their gardens has helped to shape plans to redesign the landscaping and setting of the hall.

Careful attention to detail will ensure the refurbishment reflects the historic characteristics of the hall, whilst the many archaeological finds from the nearby Military Way and Vallum will provide the basis of unique exhibitions, displays and interpretation for visitors, schools and those working on the site.

David Redhead, project manager at Pendower Hall Ltd, said:

“Everybody benefits from the restoration of Pendower Hall. A derelict building is brought back to use, jobs are created and a landmark project such as this, with the significant investment into the area it brings, can only positively help the pace of change in and around Benwell.

“We’ve carefully considered all the feedback we’ve been given on the initial proposals, we’ve changed the car parking, landscaping, detailing of the internal refurbishment, external appearance and size of the extension and how we protect the heritage and archaeology. Our revised proposals now balance the need to have a commercially viable scheme with the heritage, planning and landscaping aspects of the site.”

Essential to the commercial viability of the scheme is the extension. Peter Nugent is the Conservation Architect at Ainsworth Spark who is using his many years’ experience of working on listed buildings to create a stunning extension that balances heritage and business.

The revised plans and proposals will be submitted shortly; council officers and councilors will then consider them with work hoping to start in the Autumn.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Sophie Isobel .