Newcastle Ideas Exchange

The site was formerly occupied by the Bank of England in Newcastle, on axis with the Tyne Bridge, where the city’s most dramatic modernist space meets historic fabric.

The brief asked to replace the financial capital, as represented by the Bank of England, with uses focused on social capital, to be cantered on an exchange space (or spaces).

This Idea of a single responsive surface developed in the brief; a new platform for crowd-source funded projects and start-up businesses.

Despite its spatial drama, the resulting project is highly contextual, balancing a bold formal response to the surrounding modernist objects with sensitivity to the scale of the streets.

Spaces inside the building, and around it, are handled with a careful attention to scale, atmosphere and material. The resulting building, would be a remarkable addition to the cityscape.