What's New or Pre-Loathed in architecture?

 The old (very old) and hideous Tyne & Wear Council building that looked like something in East Germany containing not very nice people has had a long facelift. Maybe Covid 19 slowed the pace? But is was worth the wait in my opinion. Making something that challenging look good would test the minds and budget of any of those 'improvements' shows on the telly.

Former clip built concrete slab box springs into new life. The work entailed gutting the interior (and doubtless removing pre-healtha nd safety hazards ...) The result is not just a facade.

The new building seems to embrace its site with something like delight.

My hope is that this residential development impacts on the neighbourhood positively. One issue for this writer is pedestrian access. This involves either using discredited tunnels (avoid) or under slung pathways. Not good. A solution should be found.

A much less warm welcome from me for the new government offices on Pilgrim Street. The building is so-so; at least the architecturally significant sweeping facade of the old North East Electricity Board building on Market Street has been preserved – indeed lovingly so. But it is the scale and position of the site that gives rise to issues. It seems wrong in terms of access and the direction of travel for this part of the city; a more cultural focused area. Space elsewhere to the east is crying out for such a development as this and the traffic implications for the city centre much less problematic. I suppose the temptation to grab a damn great feather to stick in their cap was just too much of the mediocrities who run Newcastle.

It is interesting how one new building makes one look at an older, now neglected one, in a new way. Pearl building Brutalism meets Neo-Festival Britain modernism

Impressive is a word that fits this dramatic cliff of Portland stone.

Groundwork

A wander around doing a litter pick. It has astonished me how much the Battlefield (a.k.a. 'City Stadium') has developed into a real park from it's humble beginning as I saw forty years or more ago. Trees are approaching something like maturity; the wildlife interest has developed inline with that. It is wonderful to see how well most users enjoy its opportunities for relaxation and informal sport, a safe space for children. Most but not all; there is a litter problem but nota fly tipping problem thankfully. Litter sends a signal and it is never a good one.

Photographic galleries are an issue and when I have the time I am going to seek a solution. Meanwhile I do have along time photographic library and I hope to make that public.

An Important Annoucement!

 Or, rather, message. What ever we do, it does not matter about scale, but together we can make a difference to wildlife and our own lives.

A short film explains all!

A bit of 'guerilla' gardening!

Pollinators, excavators

The flower meadow seeded on part of the City Stadium a.k.a. Battlefield has sprung into a mass of blooms. For some reason part of the marked oof area, some of it de-turfed and preapred wasn't seeded. But the majority was and the results are stunning.

Combined with the herbaceous 'line' running the length of the main route over the Battlefield site this has made for a wonderful colourful display for our High Summer and a welcome addition for many bees and other 'pollinators' to exploit and, hopefully, thrive after several years of concern. Bees are vital to the health of our environment, so seeing them, hive species and solitary's in numbers, is a great relief.

Meanwhile others also delve. The Lidl's site progresses too.

'Big on Quality Lidl on Price'

Work begins

Lidl's supermarket's were a favourite for me even before I discovered they were building a store in Shieldfield on the old motor homes sales site at the junction of Portland Road and Warwick Street. True, I would have quite liked that cleared site to be integrated back into the City Stadium; for a while it had been used by skateboarders, a use I approved of but didn't last.

When plans were released I saw the flowering cherry trees beside Portland Road felled and posted about that vandalism on this blog. I wrote e-mails to all three of my local Councillors at that time for an explanation, and sent a copy to Lidl's U.K. Only Lidl's UK replied. Their reply came with a full outline of their plans and drawings and pledges to make good any lost trees and more; it also claimed the tree felling was requested by Newcastle City Council. The e-mail promised tree planting around the site in double figures, a sedum roof and comprehensive controls on waste management and integral re-cycling.

This preceded the Covid Pandemic and since then little has happened on site. I heard a rumour another large food retailer had placed an objection. Last month a digger turned up and work is well underway.

Shieldfield and Sandyford suffers from limited access to affordable and varied food at price points most can afford. 'Food access poverty' is a thing, particularly for the less mobile; we have many such households in the district.

A supermarket for Shieldfield

We shall have to wait and see if all the environmental promises are met. I still have the correspondence and will monitor progress. However, for the community's sake, I welcome Lidl's.