Sector: Retain

Existing building are a fantastic record of human endeavour displaying the patina of time and something valuable financially, historically and aesthetically; this is where understanding how to work with a building to bring out its essence and preserve where possible the best qualities is an important skill. There are many levels of historical building from none designated heritage asset up to scheduled ancient monument – we have worked across this spectrum from Roman Wall to Grade I listed interiors and all in between.

Bigg Market, Newcastle

Putting the heart back into the Bigg Market, the clients brief for the regeneration of Newcastle's historic centre - a joint venture by Newcastle City Council and NE1 returning the fortunes of a run down but yet much loved central market square synonymous with all who know Newcastle.

Infamous as part of Newcastle's legendary nightlife, this core of the city had become neglected. Many of the historic building facades needing urgent work ahead of the original detail being lost forever. The key historic centre of Newcastle went under a major facelift as part of a Townscape Heritage Initiative funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund with MawsonKerr as lead consultant and architects.

The project has involved 12 of the surrounding buildings on Bigg Market, Cloth Market and Groat Market along with the public realm and iconic Victorian Gentlemen's WC. Over a 5 year period the buildings were individually repaired using historic conservation techniques and involving various crafts people. The project placed conservation as the agent of change to facilitate the regeneration of the Bigg Market Newcastle. The market place itself had a more extensive redesign in collaboration with landscape architects Southern Green. The design created has various plateaus on the sloped market square to allow a cafe culture to thrive and bring a day time offering to compliment the night time one. A unique space at the bottom of the Bigg Market is the former Gentlemen's WC. This space was transformed with new roof, sympathetic to the original, and now a popular cocktail bar - what else would it be...

As part of the £3.2 million budget NE1 are organising various events and workshops to celebrate the enhancement of the area.

Awards

Constructing Excellence - National Award for Conservation & Regeneration
Newcastle Lord Mayors Award – Transformational Frontage
RICS North East – Heritage Shortlisted

 

“The Bigg Market Project is fast becoming an exemplar model of heritage led regeneration and conservation. The success of this project is testament to the collaborative approach taken by the project partners and the unwavering commitment to quality”.

Alex Slack

Client and Head of Special Projects - NE1

 

“The success of the Bigg Market regeneration is evident for all to see, everything that has been achieved to date reflects the commitment, dedication and professionalism of the team leading the project. Newcastle’s historic heart is critical to the success of the wider city transformation plans and sets the very high bar for us to continue to deliver to”

Tom Warburton

Interim Chief Executive, Newcastle City Council

 

 

 

 

 

At completion in 2022, the Bigg Market is a vibrant, inclusive space, celebrated by artists, residents and the business community. It is now a viable space for investment, enjoyment and activity. Newcastle has it's historic heart back and beating louder than ever.  At the time of writing, the additional investment (over and above the project costs) in the area has surpassed £17 million pounds, creating over 350 jobs along the way.

The Public Realm has been redeveloped and has demonstrated it's viability as a flexible public space. The strategy of giving it a new purpose and character while being sympathetic to the heritage is there for all to see. It has hosted Public Events and heralded the return of the much-loved markets, it has further enabled resident businesses outside space to trade and change the image of the Bigg Market from purely evening offering to a European public square.

During the development phase, 15 buildings were identified as at risk and in need of attention, 12 of these have now been restored directly through the project with a further 8 properties in the locale carrying out improvement works. At the time of writing, the additional investment (over and above the project costs) in the area has surpassed £17 million pounds, creating over 350 jobs along the way.

The project has demonstrated a best-in-class approach with it's professional team, drawing on the skills of surveyors, architects, archaeologists, conservationists and other specialists. This has been echoed by the client testimonials received.

The project has been cited as an exemplar in several academic papers and was recently published on the Government's High Street Task Force website HERE.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Calverley Old Hall

Calverley Old Hall near Leeds is a Grade I listed medieval manor house with fabric dating from the 13th to 17th centuries. While part has been a Landmark holiday let for many years, the rest of the site had fallen into disuse and such decay that it is currently on the Heritage at Risk Register. In 2017 an international design competition was launched; our design was shortlisted against 75 proposals, we went on be part of the final interview process.

Our proposal imagined recreating the former uses of the original hall in their configuration, bringing back the glory of the main congregation spaces with historic fabric retained throughout. Any interventions were to be in contemporary materials to be easily read against the original building. Using CLT as the main proposed material four bedrooms with en-suites were created with the dramatic medieval spaces kept as livable follies for banquets and gatherings.

Levens Hall Restaurant

Levens Hall and Gardens is a grade I listed hall and gardens and is recognised as the oldest original garden in England featuring the oldest Haha. The house has been in the Bagot Family for centuries who were looking to create a contemporary restaurant within the grounds to complement the amazing historical fair that has been a tourist destination for decades. Famous for the topiary hedges of amazing scale and variety it is regularly used for film sets and garden programmes.

We worked with the family and staff looking at a number of different sites and design options within the grounds before homing in on a proposal that was simple in plan with a dynamic roof form pointing to the future.

The building sits on a plinth above the flood zone and provides a new destination alongside the gardens and hall that can operate all year round. The material palette and detail have been carefully developed to make strong connection to the neighbouring structures with a finely manicured hedge running through the building and out towards the river Kent referencing the gardens. The project is to develop the Bagot Family’s keen interest in ‘field to fork’ eating using products all grown within close proximity for sustainable dining.

Tyne Tee

The Staithes at Dunston, a listed structure, is considered to be the largest timber structure in Europe. This relic of the industrial era currently collects flotsam and is slowly decomposing in the silt of the Tyne.

Our light touch proposal is to bring this back to life as an ecological gold driving range where you can “hit some balls and feed the fish”. This is part of the Forgotten Spaces North East competition where surreal and wild ideas are pitched in a public arena discussing areas requiring regeneration.

There is a more serious debate behind the light-hearted solution; the loss of this iconic structure. We are putting our whole-hearted support behind this industrial monument and will be generating other ideas in the coming months.

Awards

Forgotten Spaces North East Winner