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AIAUK WEEKEND EXCURSION: AND SEPTEMBER 14-15 2019

Newcastle, and the Northeast region, has a rich history in world-leading engineering, innova on and crea vity which is evident in architecture of the City Centre and Quayside.

The Literary and Philosophical Society of Newcastle upon Tyne (or the Lit & Phil as it is popularly known) is a historical library - the largest in- dependent library outside London. Founded in 1793 as a “conversa on club” by the Reverend William Turner and others – more than fi y years before the London Library – the annual subscrip on was originally one guinea. It a racted intellectuals and academics alike with its wide-rang- ing debates and plen ful literature in French, Spanish, German and Lat- in, and was host to a long list of the intelligentsia of the era. Engineer and inventor George Stephenson showed his miner’s lamp here, and in 1879, when Joseph Swan demonstrated his electric light bulbs, the Lit and Phil building became the fi rst public building to be so illuminated. Between 1822 and 1825, a new building was created for the Society on Westgate Road, designed by John Green. This building is s ll in use today, with many original features including iron-work second-fl oor galleries.

SATURDAY LITERARY AND PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY 1

THE SEVEN BRIDGES OF NEWCASTLE/GATESHEAD (WEST TO EAST) - The current bridge - designed by Mo Hay & Anderson - is the third road crossing at this loca on and was opened in 1983 by the Princess of Wales. King Edward VII Bridge – The bridge - designed and engineered by C A Harrison and opened by King Edward VII in 1906 – has been described as ‘Britain’s last great railway bridge’. It is Grade II listed. Queen Elizabeth II Metro Bridge – Designed by WA Fairhust and Partners in the 1970s, the bridge was purpose built to carry the . - Designed by Robert Stevenson and opened by Queen Victoria in 1849, the iron road and rail bridge is considered the most notable historical engineering works in the city and is Grade I listed. Swing Bridge - Designed, built and paid for by Sir William Armstrong to access his engineering works, the bridge was and opened in 1876 as the largest swing bridge then built. It is Grade II listed and renovated in 2018. Tyne Bridge – The bridge - designed by the engineering fi rm Mo , Hay and An- derson, and opened in 1928 – has become the defi ning symbol of . It is Grade II listed. Gateshead Millennium Bridge - Designed by architects Wilkinson Eyre and engi- neers Giff ord and Partners, the bridge was opened to pedestrian and cycle traffi c in 2000. It has since won the RIBA S rling Prize and featured on stamps and coins.

2 BRIDGES TOUR, NEWCASTLE QUAYSIDE Winner of the 2002 RIBA S rling Prize for Wilkinson Eyre Architects, this unique crossing for pedestrians and cyclists has become a new landmark for the Tyne, a river already famous for its historic bridges. The bridge links Newcastle’s thriving north bank with Gateshead Quays – the new arts and cultural quarter to the south.

The bridge is essen ally two graceful curves, one forming the deck and the other suppor ng it, spanning between two new islands running parallel to the quaysides. The curved arms pivot around their common springing points to allow shipping to pass beneath, using an innova ve rota onal movement similar to that of a slowly opening eyelid. The par- abolic curve of the deck extends the 105m crossing distance to around 120m, but provide enough extra height for the required clearance above the water when in the rotated posi on. The bridge takes as li le as 4 1⁄2 minutes to rotate through the full 40° from closed to open, depending on wind speed. Visually elegant when sta c and in mo on, the bridge off ers a great spectacle during its ‘blinking eye’ opening opera on – both during the day and by night. It is also energy effi cient, as li le as £3.96 per opening (in 2017).

MILLENNIUM BRIDGE 3

The Bal c Mills was a disused fl our silo sited on the south bank of the , Gateshead. Originally built by Rank Hovis, it was completed in 1950 to a late-1930s design by architects Gelder and Kitchen. It was earmarked by the local authority for regenera on into a gallery in the 1990s. A er winning a design compe on, Dominic Williams of Ellis Wil- liams Architects worked closely with the gallery organisa on to develop his ver cal stack concept and lead a carefully chosen technical team. The successful conversion was opened in 2002, receiving many awards and welcoming over a million visitors in its fi rst year.

The winning design explored the rela onship between crea ve and social forms by posi oning the administra on and educa on spaces at the heart of the building and allowing the programme to evolve fl exibly around them. The ver cality of the exis ng perimeter silo structure was retained, while inser ng a new structure of six main fl oors and three mezzanines between the facades. Included are 3000sqm of arts space (four galleries and a fl exible performance space), ar sts’ studios, a cine- ma/lecture space, a shop, a library and an archive for the study of con- temporary art.

4 BALTIC CENTRE FOR CONTEMPORARY ART

Sage Gateshead is a music educa on and concert centre located on the south bank of the River Tyne in Gateshead. Designed by Foster and Part- ners and completed in 2004.

The building comprises three performance spaces which are acous cally independent, separated from one another to prevent noise transfer. To further improve the acous c performance of the structures, a special- ly-designed ‘spongy’ concrete mix was used with an increased air ca- pacity. Due to strong coastal winds and a some mes inclement climate, it was decided to group the independent structures together under a single protec ve roof cover. The three reinforced concrete structures containing the performance spaces are expressed on the outside by the roof undula ons.

Reaching a height of over 40 m, the shell roof is supported by four steel with spans of 80 m. The undula ng roof wraps around the three internal structures, but does not touch them. As well as rejuvena ng the former industrial wasteland of the Tyne south bank, the building has received awards for its use of cu ng-edge technology, structural design and acous c engineering. SAGE GATESHEAD 5 Long before becoming modern ci es, Newcastle and Gateshead were just two humble se lements separated by the River Tyne. From the boom of the Industrial Revolu on, its legacy of engineering and social innova on and its thriving night life have transformed Newcastle and Gateshead into vibrant, dynamic and cosmopolitan North East des na- ons which a ract visitors from across the globe.

Many of the buildings which can be seen in Newcastle today were built during the 19th century a er builder Richard Grainger won a compe- on to produce a new city plan for central Newcastle. Other notable architects working with Grainger include John Dobson, John Wardle, Thomas Oliver and John and Benjamin Green. The stylised and stun- ning Neoclassical architecture is primarily found on Leazes Terrace, Grey Street, Grainger Street and Clayton Street. The Theatre Royal and Great North Museum found nearby are also fi ne examples of the style. This stunning mix of Victorian and is o en referred to as ‘’. Grey Street alone has earned its share of accolades as one of the ‘Best Street’s in the UK.

SUNDAY 6 WALKING TOUR: CITY CENTRE

The Newcastle Civic Centre is a local government building designed by its city architect, George Kenyon. It was opened in 1968 by HM King Olav V of Norway in recogni on of the Scandinavian infl uences in its design and materials. With the city in the throes of post-war de-indus- trialisa on, it is claimed that the Civic Centre dragged Newcastle ‘kicking and screaming into modernity’ (20C Society). It has long since been ap- preciated as a cultural landmark.

The Civic Centre off ers a sense of spa al drama fi ng for a city of steep inclines and sharp changes in perspec ve. The drama is epitomised by the looming sculpture of the River God Tyne by David Wynne on its façade and its imposing rotunda shape complemen ng the func onal rhythm of its administra ve spaces.

The Civic Centre is currently undergoing a £45m makeover to op mise the building use by suble ng space to other agencies. Heritage groups are strongly opposed to altera ons to the building that aff ect its archi- tectural legacy. The closing off of the open into the courtyard have been par cularly controversial.

WALKING TOUR: CIVIC CENTRE 7

Newcastle University can trace its origins back to a School of Medicine and Surgery established in 1834 and the College of Physical Science (Armstrong College) established in 1871. It is a ‘red brick university’ as well as a member of the pres gious research-intensive Russell Group of UK universi es.

It has an enrolment of almost 16,000 undergraduate and 5,600 post- graduate students from 120 countries. It off ers 175 full- me undergrad- uate degree programmes in a wide range of subject areas -including architecture, arts, sciences, engineering and medicine - together with approximately 340 postgraduate programmes.

According to the University’s website, it is ‘located in the heart of one of the UK’s favourite student ci es’, benefi ng both the students and the city. The concentrated, central campus off ers buildings from the Victo- rian to the modern with a range of styles in between. The oldest and most prominent building is the Armstrong College, started in 1887 with subsequent addi ons and improvements up to 1906.

8 WALKING TOUR: UNIVERSITY AREA The North East Coast Exhibi on of 1929 was Tyne and Wear’s World’s Fair held in what is now Newcastle’s Exhibi on Park. It was organised at the start of the Great Depression to promote local heavy industry. It was opened on 14 May by the Prince of Wales (later Edward VIII) and closed on 26 October. Several buildings were constructed in the Park to the Art Deco designs of W and TR Milburn of – architects with substan al experience in the fi elds of theatre and cinema design. Henry Kelly Limited of Newcastle were the builders, and construc on costs were £114,000 (just over £5 million in today’s money).

The main buildings were the Palace of Engineering, the Palace of Indus- try, the Palace of Arts, the Fes val Hall, the Garden Club, a stadium of 20,000 capacity and the Women’s and Ar sans’ sec ons. There was also a government sponsored Empire Marke ng Board Pavilion which - unlike the other buildings – was designed by government appointed architects.

The Palace of Arts is the last surviving building from the North East Exhi- bi on, and now houses the Wylam Brewery - a 30-barrel micro-brewery and restaurant opened in 2000.

PALACE OF THE ARTS, EXHIBITION PARK 9

The Byker Wall is a long, unbroken block of 620 maisone es in the Byker dis- trict. The ‘Wall’ is just one part of the Byker Estate, which in total covers 200 acres (80 hectares), including low-rise dwellings. In the area now covered by the Byker Estate, there was an exis ng neighbourhood of nearly 1200 Victo- rian terrace houses that had been condemned as unfi t for human habita on.

The new housing block was designed by Ralph Erskine, assisted by Vernon Gracie. Although Bri sh, Erskine had spent many years working in Sweden and was a confi rmed socialist commi ed to improving housing design. De- sign began in 1968 and construc on took place between 1969 and 1982. As exis ng dwellings were to be demolished as the new accommoda on was built, Erskine’s prac ce opened an offi ce on site to develop communica on and trust with the residents.

The high-rise Wall was designed to shield the site from an intended motorway (which was never built). Construc on materials were rela vely cheap - con- crete, brick and mber. As well as Erskine’s interac ve consulta on meth- odology, the Wall’s Func onalist Roman c styling - with textured, complex facades; colourful brick, wood and plas c panels; a en on to context and rela vely low-rise construc on - represented a major break with the Brutalist high-rise architectural orthodoxy of the me. 10 BYKER ESTATE

Prepared on behalf of the AIA UK Chapter