Ring out the awful, bring in the so-so

The old Tyne & Wear Council offices on Sandyford Road,
one of the ugliest buildings in the whole of Newcastle,
currently dominates the entrance to the development
I hope the developers plan to knock it down.

When I first saw the transformation of the former Scottish Life buildings alongside the old Jesmond station, betwixt and between Sandyford Road (sic) and the Central Motorway, I was sitting with a man who had shaken hands with Frank Lloyd Wright. He looked at the concrete framework against the setting sun and said "I wish they would leave it just as it is'. It did have a certain Cubist attractiveness.

Years later the transformation has almost been completed except for a proposed tower block that will soar above the junction of Jesmond Road and Osborne Terrace. It is quite a sight even on the drawing board.

I missed the open event where the architects and developers presented their plans. Pity. But I did a bit of wandering about myself a day later on a nice evening and made a record of the current development.

I have to admit it isn't all bad. Not for me, but as an alternative to eating up the greenbelt, and, above all, an imaginative re-purposing of an office block, much to commend it. The detailing is good but also rather 'Canary Wharf', that soulless material, stainless steel, too much in evidence. What it's like to live next to all that car pollution, noise and poor air quality, I do not know.

So a guarded welcome for me. And a hope more of this city's wretched old office blocks and several newer ones that are unlet or never been let, will find a new use as housing. Bringing people back into our cities should be a priority

What do you think? Link to off site photograph gallery here.