A £60 million student housing tower that would be among Newcastle’s tallest buildings has been approved. Councillors have signed off on plans to demolish the vacant Hadrian House offices in Newcastle city centre and replace them with a 21-storey student accommodation complex.
The huge redevelopment plans narrowly won the backing of Newcastle City Council’s planning committee on Friday morning, despite concerns over the size of the “gargantuan” vision. Developers described the scheme as a “generational opportunity” to kickstart the regeneration of the eastern gateway into the city centre.
Demolition and new towers
A number of “underused and unwelcoming” high-level walkways linked to the 1970s office block will also be demolished, alongside the building itself. The replacement for Hadrian House, which was previously home to the Hustler snooker club, will comprise of two towers – one of 21 storeys and one of 14.
Sona Estates and Argon’s project would provide 507 student bedrooms, plus a regenerated public space that would incorporate part of the Saville Place car park.
Concerns raised at hearing
Suzanne Hydes, a resident of neighbouring Bewick Court, told Friday’s hearing that the new building was “gargantuan” and raised concerns about overshadowing and a major influx of students putting pressure on local healthcare services. She said it would “irrevocably alter” the cityscape and negatively impact surrounding listed buildings like the Laing Gallery. Ms Hydes also objected on the basis of potential underground gas contamination, arguing that a detailed investigation should be carried out before the council’s decision.
Argon director Richard Wilks said that a more detailed ground survey could only be carried out once Hadrian House had been demolished and that the contamination was considered a “construction issue rather than there being a risk to the public”. He explained that there are historic mine workings roughly 100 metres beneath the site, which are the source of concern over gas, but that the foundations of the proposed building would only go 15 metres deep and then hit bedrock.
Regeneration opportunity
Mr Wilks said that the development would effectively act as an extension of the Northumbria University campus and replace the hundreds of university-owned student bedrooms lost following closure of the Claude Gibb and Lovaine halls of residence. He added: “We believe this is a generational opportunity to make a positive difference to this part of the city and act as a catalyst for the regeneration of this part of the city and its eastern gateway.”
Elswick councillor Peter Thomson expressed frustration that the development was not coming forward as a wider regeneration scheme to improve other run-down parts of the New Bridge Street area. Green Party colleague John Pearson echoed those concerns and called the Hadrian House proposal “disrespectful to its surroundings”.
But Liberal Democrat Henry Gallagher said: “It is currently an awful space and we saw clearly on the figures that we need more student accommodation. I think it is going to be an absolute improvement on what we have at the moment.” Committee chair Doreen Huddart called the existing Hadrian House an eyesore, but voted against the plans due to concerns that its replacement would be too tall.
However, the committee voted by four to three in favour of granting permission. It is expected that the demolition of Hadrian House would take around six months, with a two-and-a-half year construction of the new building scheduled to start in October 2027. A decision on the scheme had been delayed last month after the Government published new planning rules for local councils.
