New office block could transform Newcastle’s Quayside and create space for 1,000 jobs

Plans to transform Newcastle’s skyline with a new office development, set to be built on the city’s Quayside, have been revealed.

No. 1 Quayside will be completely different to anything ever seen in the North East and is being hailed as the third modern icon in Newcastle/Gateshead, alongside Sir Normal Foster’s Sage Gateshead and Wilkinson Eyre’s Gateshead Millennium Bridge.

The building will be designed by the multi-award-winning architects Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG), who are renowned for their boundary-pushing designs. The development will bring 107,346 sq ft of office space to a site on City Road, making room for up to 1,000 jobs to be created.

The curved design will benefit from a living, green roof. Each of the 12 floors will have a private roof garden as well as unobstructed views of the River Tyne, which are sure to be huge selling points.

Bjarke Ingels, founder and creative director of BIG, said: “We are thrilled to jump into our first foray into the North East. Our proposal is born from the unique conditions of Newcastle’s architectural elements, the sloping hills and the curvy frames of the bridges over the Tyne. The ascending serpentine silhouette feels like a fresh yet familiar continuation of this unique urban landscape.”

Rob Cameron, who owns the land the development will be built on, appointed Knight Frank about a year ago to assist in working up a design for the office scheme. The company has now been instructed to launch the scheme and seek a development partner who will help to bring BIG’s design to life. Initial talks with developers and funders are already underway.

Patrick Matheson, partner at Knight Frank Newcastle, said: “This is a market defining property with an outstanding design, which will appeal to a wide variety of occupiers of all sizes. Due to a lengthy hiatus of new-build offices coming to the market, there is certainly pent-up demand.

“I’m confident there will be a lot of interest as this is an incredibly exciting blueprint for the city of Newcastle.”