Newcastle

By Dori

In March 2024, PCUK travelled to Newcastle to learn about the ambitious plans of transforming the city into the gateway of North East of England. To explore the changing identities of the city, our walkabout covered Forth Yards (Quayside West), Helix and Ouseburn. 

As the tour kicked off, we made our way from Central Station towards the west of the city and climbed the stairs of a carpark to reach our first destination. The unassuming spot was the perfect location to take a good look of the extensive brownfield land also called Forth Yards. Our brilliant guide Ian Freshwater explained how the strategic brownfield housing site of the North East is allocated for a mixed use scheme and will include apartments, town houses, employment space, bars, restaurants, and more. Ample challenges and opportunities lie in the topography of the site as its sitting slanted facing the River Tyne, but nevertheless the development will open up access to the river. Acting as a gateway, a network of public open spaces and active travel routes through the site will connect the area to the urban core of the city. While the new development will change the outlook of the area, there are a number of uses and features that are planned to be retained, respecting heritage assets and existing landmarks. The Newcastle Arena, historic sandstone walls, railway buildings and the steeply sloping escarpment edge should remain familiar features.

We continued walking to the north of the city to visit Helix, a 10ha innovation district in the heart of Newcastle. The partnership between Legal&General, the City Council and Newcastle University is delivering a hybrid quarter built for research, tech and science businesses, the local community and new residents. Helix is set to be a hub of events and activities to bring people together to collaborate. It was truly fascinating to see this development in progress and the enthusiasm of those who’ve been working on this masterplan project. A development of this scale cannot come without its challenges and we'll be interested to see how community integration and the activation of public spaces will deliver a place where people can share experiences. 

Lastly, we hopped on the metro to one of the longest standing heritage-led regeneration projects that started in the 1980s and is still ongoing, driven by the community. Named one of the ‘Coolest Neighbourhoods’ in the UK by Time Out magazine, Ouseburn has quickly become a thriving art scene, where you can also go horse riding, check out the urban farm or indulge in the nightlife. Ouseburn Valley has undergone a dramatic transformation from post-industrial wasteland to a cultural and creative quarter, featuring many examples of adaptive reuse of the industrial buildings. The riverside development consists of five phases delivering 300 homes and 20,000 sq ft of commercial space, supporting community living.

We finished our tour in the Free Trade Inn where we had a rest and a drink while enjoying a sunset view of Newcastle.