What to watch: North East projects
What’s coming up in the North East for 2025? Place North East spoke to developers and key people from across the region to discover the projects that should be on everyone’s radar.
Forth Yards
Forth Yards is Newcastle’s last major undeveloped brownfield site and a major gateway to the city by road and rail.
2025 will see major construction works as developer Hines, in partnership with Olympian Homes, continues work on more than 500 BTR low carbon homes. Pottery Lane will form the city’s largest multifamily development and will be an all-electric scheme powered by geothermal heat pumps and on-site solar PV making it net-zero enabled from day one.
Two blocks of the Pottery Lane development will be delivered, in 2026 and 2027. Credit: via FTI
Northumbria University
Northumbria University’s city centre campus is undergoing major development, underpinned by two new research facilities, the North East Space Skills and Technology Centre and the Centre for Health and Social Equity.
NESST will be developed by McAlpine for the university, with investment from the UK Space Agency and the space and satellite division of Lockheed Martin. Designed by Ryder, plans include the partial demolition and refurbishment of the Wynne Jones building.
In 2025, construction of the £50m NESST facility will make significant progress.
Meanwhile, the £75m CHASE project intends to bring together academics working on health, social care, education, wellbeing and equity issues into one central base.
In May of 2024, Northumbria University started the tender process as it seeks partners for the project.
The NESST space R&D centre will come in at 59,000 sq ft. Credit: planning documents
Malmo Quay
The Malmo Quay housing scheme is part of igloo’s regeneration scheme for the Ouseburn area and has been rumbling in the background for years, since the originally submitted plans, which included an 18-storey tower block, were rejected in 2021. Situated at the mouth of the Ouseburn, the latest proposals for phase 3 of igloo’s Ouseburn project now consist of 58 homes and 3,000 sq ft of commercial space.
The wider residential-led riverside development on the edge of Newcastle will eventually consist of 300-350 homes and 18,000-20,000 sq ft of commercial and retail space. The project team includes White Arkitekter, Xsite, Featherstone Young, Civic Engineers, Cundall, Max Fordham, Gleeds, and Buro Four.
The proposed view of Malmo Quay from Gateshead. Credit: Arkitekter
Pilgrim Street
The 10-acre regeneration site adjacent to Newcastle’s retail core in the heart of the city centre will continue to progress next year.
Worswick Chambers will reopen as a STACK leisure scheme following a comprehensive restoration and extension of the grade two-listed building, which completed in September and was led by Avison Young and Ryder Architecture.
2025 will also see the launch of Newcastle’s first five-star hotel, Hotel Gotham, at the site of the Old Police and Fire Station, which has been renovated into a 90-bed hotel with a restaurant, bar, and event space. The development of Gotham Newcastle by Bespoke Hotels follows in the footsteps of Hotel Gotham in Manchester. The designer on the project was Squid.inc.
Work also continues on the HMRC headquarters on Pilgrim Street, which topped out in October and will bring 9,000 civil servants into the city by 2027 and become the agency’s largest base.
Bowmer + Kirkland is the contractor on Worswick Chambers. Credit: Avison Young
Riverside Sunderland
Work continues to progress on the 80-acre masterplan which will eventually comprise 1,000 new energy efficient homes in four distinctive neighbourhoods, a central business district with 1m sq ft of office space.
Amongst other projects, the 120-bed four-star Holiday Inn in Keel Square, the City Hall, and the Auditorium, a 450-seat performing arts venue have already opened, and fit-out has commenced at Legal & General’s two flagship office buildings, part of its £100m investment in Riverside Sunderland.
Looking ahead, Culture House, a library and creativity hub in Keel Square will continue to take shape, and work will start on the £450m Crown Works Studios. Architect 4D Studio is designer for the project, which is being backed by funding released through the North East’s devolution deal. Lichfields and Hydrock now Stantec are also on the team.
The Crown Works Studio will be among the largest in Europe. Credit: via Creo
Newcastle Helix
Newcastle Helix is an innovation district, home to three national innovation centres, dedicated laboratory facilities, university research hubs, and commercial office space.
2025 should see confirmation of new investment in the Biosphere commercial lab space and plans to increase availability of space for the city’s burgeoning life sciences sector.
It will also see Vastint start work on Marriott Tribute’s 198-bedroom hotel.
In 2025, steps forward will be taken on the residential phase of the scheme, with 400 houses planned for the site. These will be energy efficient, low carbon design, integrating historic west-end architecture with the existing modern buildings.
igloo was named preferred partner for Helix’s residential scheme. Credit: via Active Profile
Eldon Square
Eldon Square is undergoing major transformation at the moment, with asset managers Pradera Lateral working closely with Newcastle City Council to bring new brands and experiences to the shopping centre.
In 2025, a £65m overhaul of the centre will take significant steps forward, with the top floor of the ex-Debenhams unit becoming home to live music and theatre, a bar and dining area, an outdoor roof terrace, street food stalls and a microbrewery.
The centre will also build new leisure attractions including an electric go karting circuit, batting nets, mini golf, bowling, and virtual reality games.
Eldon Square comes in at 1.35m sq ft. Credit: via BWP Group
Health Innovation Neighbourhood
HIN is a £500m urban regeneration project led by Newcastle University and Genr8 Kajima to deliver 1m sq ft of commercial and research facilities, public realm, and 1,000 homes in student residential and later living schemes.
In 2025, master planning of the site and remediation works will continue to gather momentum, with the university working with the council and partners to secure further investment for the scheme.
The project will include R&D, offices and living space. Credit: GSSArchitecture
A special thanks goes to Invest Newcastle’s Richard Dawson, for his help in compiling this list.
