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The BIS, Whitby St Studios, Hartlepool

Original building remains dominant in conversation between new and old

The BIS, Whitby St Studios, Hartlepool.
The BIS, Whitby St Studios, Hartlepool. Credit: Luke Hayes

RIBA North East Award winner 2021
Project Architect of the Year Award (sponsored by Taylor Maxwell), Building of the Year Award


Group Ginger for Hartlepool Borough Council
Contract value: £3.8m 
GIA: 2,750m2
Cost per area m2: £1,382

As part of the revitalisation of Hartlepool’s Church St Conservation Area, the critical mass of the town’s Northern School of Art and its student population is being used as the catalyst for the town’s urban regeneration. Its grade II-listed Victorian post office, refurbished and extended, provides a serviced facility offering studio spaces for start-up enterprises, flexible teaching spaces and also a social networking environment. Adopting a design approach of retention, adaptation and addition has created a conversation between new and old, where the original building remains dominant. The architect’s distinctive, gold-metal-clad new fourth wing also encloses the central area to introduce a common social space.

  • The BIS, Whitby St Studios, Hartlepool.
    The BIS, Whitby St Studios, Hartlepool. Credit: Luke Hayes
  • The BIS, Whitby St Studios, Hartlepool.
    The BIS, Whitby St Studios, Hartlepool. Credit: Luke Hayes
  • The BIS, Whitby St Studios, Hartlepool.
    The BIS, Whitby St Studios, Hartlepool. Credit: Luke Hayes
  • The BIS, Whitby St Studios, Hartlepool.
    The BIS, Whitby St Studios, Hartlepool. Credit: Luke Hayes
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