| Architect |
L.G. Ekins |
| Date
Built |
1932 |
| Location |
Newgate
Street |
| Description |
|
|
The former Newcastle Co-op department store
closed its doors for the last time on New
Years Eve 2011. It had traded on
Newgate Street for 79 years, its art deco
façade a tribute to the pre-war years.
In August of 2012, the Redbox Design Group posted an article on their website about this Grade II listed building's future. They said, " redboxdesigngroup proposals for the restoration and conversion of the Newcastle Co-operative buildings on Newgate Street have been submitted for planning. The building has been empty for several years except for a small area at ground floor – the Co-op’s retained food hall. It is an iconic Art Deco design in Newcastle’s townscape designed by L.G. Ekins in 1932, but has become seriously at risk due to the lack of proper maintenance." They added that, "The proposals include a 231 bedroom hotel, the Co-op foodhall retained and 5 other retail or restaurant uses at ground floor, with a gym in the basement, and all tenants but one have already committed to the scheme." During the preparation work for this proposal Redbox Design made an interesting discovery. "We gradually became aware of a number of mysterious piers, not shown on original survey drawings and with little structural logic. Archive drawings showed a historic arcade that everyone assumed had been lost in the remodelling of the 1902 building at the time of the 1932 development. Creating small holes in the piers showed a number of beautiful ornate cast iron columns still in-situ – not quite Howard Carter’s Tutankhamun moment but quite special all the same! Further opening up has shown the whole structure to be intact. It will of course be retained as a central feature in the development, along with the grand stair that originally served it." |
|
|
Former
Newcastle Co-op, Newgate Street,
Newcastle-upon-Tyne
        |
