Pilgrim's Quarter in Newcastle
Pilgrim's Quarter in Newcastle (Image: Newcastle City Council)
The countdown is on for the completion of the biggest offices to take centre stage in Newcastle city centre – and these images give us a first look inside.
It’s been more than four years since real estate billionaires and minority NUFC shareholders the Reuben Brothers first revealed plans for the huge Pilgrim’s Quarter building, when their company Taras Properties enlisted local companies to draw up plans for the huge, 463,000 sqft Government hub.
At the time, the Stack shipping container leisure hub was in full swing on the land, left empty following the demolition of the former Odeon Cinema. Within months the popular drinking and dining destination had been taken apart to make way for contractor Bowmer and Kirkland to move onto the site and get to work on what will be the Government’s largest building outside of London.
The building will become home to HMRC and other civil servants, providing a base for around 9,000 civil servants, and the contractor is on target to hand over the shell of the building to the Government in the last quarter of this year, to fit out the office ready for its employees to move in.
This week, Newcastle City Council got the chance to have a peek inside the impressive new hub building rising in the heart of Newcastle city centre, taking photos to showcase the progress on the landmark project.
Newcastle residents and visitors will have seen the transformation of the full city block, fronting Pilgrim Street, Market Street, New Bridge Street West, and John Dobson Street.
The council said the new build, which has been integrated with the historic facade of the Grade II listed Carliol House, it set to provide a huge boost to the city centre economy and will help create jobs and opportunity for residents in every corner of the city.
Council leader Coun Karen Kilgour, said: “The photos of the inside of this Government hub really show the scale and quality of the development – 463,00 sq ft across six to nine storeys.
“It’s impossible to overstate the transformational effect that having all these extra workers in the city centre will have on the local economy. Shops, restaurants, and bars all stand to benefit from the economic activity this development in the heart of the city centre will generate.
“It shows the incredible things that can be achieved when the public and private sectors work together.”
Earlier this month it was revealed that Newcastle is set for a Government jobs boost amid moves to drive regional growth as well as civil service career progression.
Newcastle and Darlington are among 13 locations where more civil service jobs will be moved in a shake up to shift roles out of the capital and into the regions, as it strives to develop and deliver policy closer to the communities. The move – announced by Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Pat McFadden – is forecast to deliver £729m worth of economic benefit to the 13 growth areas by 2030.
A view of the rooftop at Pilgrim's Quarter
A view of the rooftop at Pilgrim's Quarter
A view up to the glazed roof of the Government hub's atrium
A view up to the glazed roof of the Government hub's atrium
The revolving doors at the entrance to the huge Pilgrim's Quarter building which hundreds of civil servants will soon be using
The revolving doors at the entrance to the huge Pilgrim's Quarter building which hundreds of civil servants will soon be using