Go-ahead for Newcastle City Hall refurb
Approval has been given for internal works that will see a new public balcony bar created as Academy Music Group and Livenation look to bring the historic venue back to prominence.
A listed building consent has been granted by Newcastle City Council for the project, which will see space above the City Baths utilised for new development including the bar and offices.
Academy Music Group took over City Hall, which has a capacity of 2,135, in 2019, rebranding it as O2 City Hall. The applicants are working with Blik Design on reworking the interiors of the grade two-listed building.
In a design & access statement provided with the application, the project team spoke of the 1927-built venue’s storied past, adding that the venue has “not moved with the times”.
The DAS went on to argue: “In recent years major acts have bypassed Newcastle’ s City Hall, a tour starting in Scotland move down to Leeds or Manchester to continue.
“There is a massive opportunity to reinstate City Hall to regain its former glory and put City Hall firmly back on the touring acts schedule. In order to achieve this, the venue needs updating to provide an offer and facilities the modern concert goer expects, and band promotors seek out in order to book a venue.
“Academy Music Group in conjunction with Live Nation have recently taken over the running of the venue and can call upon a massive experience and knowledge in attracting mayor touring bands and running live music venues extensively within the majority of the major cities in the UK.
“Since taking on City Hall, Academy Music Group’s assessment of the venue has identified several areas which need to be upgraded in order to assure its safety and long term future.”
Among the venue’s issues is that provision of bar service for balcony patrons is cramped, said the team. To address this, the proposal is to extend into a space within the realm of the adjacent City Baths, but which has been mothballed by that operation.
It is acknowledged that in order to create access into this space, it will be necessary to create two openings in a historic panelled wall, but the applicant team stressed this will be done in a “sympathetic” manner.
The floor above the bar area is currently unused and is not watertight. The proposal is to replace a spiral staircase with a modern equivalent and revamp the space for office use by Academy staff, a project which will see the space made good, thus improving a listed asset.
Another benefit will be to remove a financial headache from the City Baths, which reopened in 2021. As set out in the Academy group’s heritage statement, one of the scheme’s upsides is “utilising an area of the baths which was falling into disrepair and taking away the financial burden that has on the baths will also help the future of the swimming baths as a going concern.
“It will help both City Hall and the baths, in equal measure, in providing a first-class service to its customers and ensuring these important city assets are here to stay.”
Documents relating to the listed building consent can be viewed on Newcastle’s planning portal with the reference 2025/0874/01/LBC.
