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The London office of acclaimed Danish firm Bjarke Ingels Group has ventured beyond the capital's borders to design a new landmark-in-the-making for Newcastle in North East England. Their imaginative scheme for a 12-storey office block, titled No. 1 Quayside, answers a call by landowner Rob Cameron, who appointed real estate agency Knight Frank to help conceive the development.
The project's sinuous outline draws comparisons to Newcastle's sloping topography and the parabolic forms of the bridges crossing the River Tyne. Describing the rationale behind the design, Bjarke Ingels said the "ascending serpentine silhouette feels like a fresh yet familiar continuation of this familiar unique urban landscape."
No. 1 Quayside would boast 10,000 square metres of office space in floors that reduce in size with the building's height, starting at the base with 1,260-square-metre plans and capping off with 110-square-metre plates. The ribbon-like massing—hugging the hairpin curve of the abutting road—allows for the proliferation of gardens on each level. Essentially serving as another facade, the linear garden also provides a secondary means of fire egress.
The building will replace a derelict series of structures formerly housing the Stereo nightclub. The club was shuttered in 2010 and has since been the target of arsonists.
A development partner will be scouted as the proposal is promoted at the MIPIM real estate exhibition in Cannes next month.
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