A programme of rebuilding streets, upgrading open spaces and refurbishing historic buildings has transformed the derelict Grainger Town into a vibrant mixed-use quarter. Designed by Gillespies.
Nicholas Pevsner described curving Grey Street, one of Grainger Town's main streets, as one of the best streets in England, and with Richard Grainger's classical legacy pervading the heart of Newcastle, the area has been largely transformed from dereliction to a vibrant mixed use city centre.
Majestic buildings have been re-inhabited where demolition seemed certain and pedestrian streets and alleyways have been re-knitted into the delicate fabric of the historic commercial city.
Happily most buildings survived the demolition frenzy of the 1960s and 1970s, but the regeneration of Grainger Town is still a massive undertaking. Much of the inspirational rehabilitation has relied on long-term urban design strategies to provide an integrated structure for a mass of diverse projects, stakeholders and investors, as well as funding on a monumental scale.
Now, with the 1990s decline reversed, architectural heritage has been secured, the public realm improved and the partnership with developers has worked well.
