Farrell Centre, Newcastle upon Tyne

2025 RIBA North East Award

Farrell Centre, Newcastle upon Tyne
Space Architects and Elliott Architects for Newcastle University

Contract value: £4.6m
GIA: 1,023m²
Cost per m²: £4,497
 
The Farrell Centre is the result of the 2014 Farrell Report, which was commissioned by the government and led by architect Sir Terry Farrell. The report’s findings recommended that all cities have an ‘urban room’ – a dedicated space to bring together the architectural profession and the public in order to widen the debate around our built environment and the role it plays in society. 

This centre is the first purpose-designed urban room, and has carved out its home in a Grade II-listed former department store on the edge of the Newcastle University campus. The project is a collaboration between two architectural practices, Space Architects and Elliott Architects – an important vision of Sir Terry Farrell’s to ensure that both established and emerging practices were able to bring diverse views to the creation of the centre. 

The building is a tale of two halves. The front part had a wealth of beautiful period details which have been preserved and enhanced. The rear of the building had been largely stripped of features in its previous life as a doctors’ surgery, which has allowed a series of more significant interventions to be made. The most important of these is the insertion of a colourful staircase that connects all the levels together and provides a generous flow through the spaces – key to drawing in the public.

The story of the building’s history and the interventions is left clear to see, with both supporting steel elements and previous patches of blockwork left exposed. Even a set of floating chimney pieces alongside the stair tell the story in a playful and legible way. 

The insertion of a lift into a former lightwell is a masterful move that helps tie the whole building together and provides equitable access throughout, without fundamentally changing the layout or character of the existing space.

The Farrell Centre team has curated a clever and creative programme of spaces throughout the building that appeal to a wide range of users. An arrival area and a sunken lecture space animate the ground floor, with spill-out space into the pedestrianised route, allowing the centre to expand out into the city as well as drawing the city in. 

The first floor is largely given over to gallery and exhibition space, where the team have boldly risen to the challenge of there being barely a flat wall in sight. The second floor is a fantastic community urban room with a children’s space that, during the jury’s tour, was filled with young visitors building their own masterpieces with Lego or foam blocks. The top floor completes the programme, with offices and archive storage in the roof space.

The team has turned the stereotypical idea of an architectural space on its head with joyful and visually welcoming cultural spaces. It actively invites people in to engage with the facilities and opportunities on offer.

See the rest of the RIBA North East winners here. And all the RIBA UK Awards here.

To see the whole RIBA Awards process visit architecture.com.

RIBA UK Awards 2025 sponsored by Autodesk, EH Smith, Equitone and VELUX