As the final pieces of the iconic coloured panels go into place at Newcastle’s latest creative office development, Toffee Factory, the architects behind the creation look at the significant impact the new space is going to have on the ever-evolving area of Newcastle.
The landmark stage of the building work comes as it is announced that more than a third (40%) of office space in the building has already been taken four months ahead of official opening – a feat rarely seen in the current economic climate.
Sitting at the heart of Newcastle’s Ouseburn Valley in the city’s East End, the former Maynard’s toffee factory lay derelict since the 1970s after the factory closed. After years of speculation over the future of the building, NewcastleGateshead city development company, 1NG, began to redevelop the site in May 2009 on behalf of Newcastle City Council with ambitions to transform the site into a state of the art creative office space.
1NG have acted as the lead developer on behalf of Newcastle City Council with funding from the European Union’s EDRF Competiveness Programme, One North East and Newcastle City Council. The building is owned by Newcastle City Council and managed independently by Creative Space Management.
Ouseburn-based Xsite architecture were appointed to transform the derelict building into a three story, 1,600 sq m creative hub for around 25 budding creative businesses in this £6million redevelopment project.
Adrian Philpotts, partner of Xsite Architecture said: “Many northern cities such as Manchester, Liverpool and Leeds have an abundance of derelict warehouses and factories to redevelop which Newcastle lacks. Preserving Newcastle’s heritage is so important and so when the opportunity to save Toffee Factory opened, were determined to come up with a design that would not only preserve the existing building but would offer an innovative and unique building for creative businesses from all over the UK.
“We deliberately played on the building’s history ensuring the iconic 30 metre chimney remained visible from all angles while using the existing building to provide the structure for the bottom two stories of the building and the third floor provided street height visibility to the building.”
The team at Xsite were determined to offer Toffee Factory residents the office space they themselves as a creative agency appreciate, ensuring plenty of communal space, meeting areas and an opportunity for companies to work together – a passion that is shared by the building’s award-winning managers, Creative Space Management.
Tim Bailey, partner at Xsite Architecture added: “One of our main ambitions for the building was to link the outside space with the inside area so we brought the modern elements of the internal building outside through the fresh, coloured panels while we retained uncovered walls inside the building. The bridge arches which dominate the Ouseburn Valley will be used as outdoor meeting and conference space, to really bring the history of the building to life.
“We have created ‘birdbox’ meeting places in corridors to allow for informal get-togethers and chance meetings a concept which a lot of the signed up tenants love. The opportunity for people to get together and become involved is central to this building and our design has created a balance of old and new while trying to recreate the buzz that surrounds a chance meeting you could expect on the streets of Shoreditch in London for example. The popularity of the building is testament to the real desire to keep Toffee Factory alive and further invest in the Ouseburn area with the aim of attracting businesses from outside the region to share in Newcastle’s best kept secret.”
Xsite Architecture moved to the Ouseburn Valley in 2006 after it grew out of its offices in the Tyneside Cinema. Adrian added: “Moving into the Ouseburn made perfect sense for us, we wanted to be in an area that had a creative and community atmosphere and six years later the valley still has the passion and the Toffee Factory is only reiterating this by providing a city centre location in a welcoming business community. We are very involved in the community and cannot wait for Toffee Factory to open.”
Toffee Factory is now over 40% pre-let with eleven businesses already signed up for office space in the building which will eventually house 25 different creative and digital businesses who will all benefit from the high spec, unique office surroundings that cater perfectly for expanding business. Signed up tenants include: Hedley McEwan, Multiminded, Ambit Creatives, Keltie Cochrane, Sumo and Pod Architects.
To find out more about Toffee Factory please visit www.toffeefactory.co.uk.
