WEAR WORDS
Much regeneration and redevelopment has taken place across the Wear region in recent years . With more to come , what is the building , construction or infrastructure scheme which most excites you ?
Paul Callaghan , CEO Leighton Group As someone who likes to see bridges built , literally and metaphorically , I ’ m delighted we ’ ll have a new Wear footbridge , bringing together north and south sides of the river . Connecting both the Stadium and Beacon of Light with Keel Square and the renewed city centre , it complements the Northern Spire , Queen Alexandra and Wearmouth bridges and , as a footbridge , is another step in creating a unified and people-friendly city .
John Mowbray , chairman of University of Sunderland The fire station in Sunderland ’ s cultural quarter . I ’ ve been fortunate to be there since the door was opened on that derelict building full of pigeons when the hunt was on for an iconic venue and a site for our music and other performing arts . Part of it utterly transformed , the other being built . The new auditorium looked great on paper but wonderful now as it grows up with stages inside and out and new spaces for performance and people .
Jan Dale , Director of Urban BASE , the residential property specialists I choose the magnificent monster that is Milburngate , positioned at the heart of the six-acre regeneration site on Durham ’ s unrecognisable Riverside . Phase one includes a 92-bed hotel along with cool new bars and established restaurant brands , and this will attract further international travel to our city .
County Durham is expecting to see £ 3.4bn of investment and the creation of 30,000 new jobs over the next 15 years , through developments such as Milburngate .
Graham Soult , Canny Sights retail consultant I ’ m interested in schemes that repurpose existing spaces and places , so I ’ m choosing the Durham Distillery , Prince Bishops ’ Shopping
Centre , Durham .
Opening this year , it is converting a former bank into a gin shop at mall level with a huge still room , bar and visitor attraction beneath the street .
Interesting and distinctive developments like this are just what our high streets need more of .
Mark Doherty , managing director , Identity Consult The Beacon of Light has won national awards for its design and construction and rightly so .
We were honoured to work on the building and can testify first-hand to how much complexity is contained in what appears to be such a simple structure .
The facility cost £ 19m to construct but is worth every penny for the wonderful way it delivers on the aspirations of the Foundation of Light to deliver a real beacon of hope and possibility to the people of Wearside .
Rob Lawson , chair of Education Partnership North East The " twin resorts " of Roker and Seaburn are changing . I love the developments along Marina Walk , where cafes , bistros and a classy fish and chop restaurant have added so much vibrancy to what in my childhood was a wasteland .
Further north , unused buildings are being transformed into more cafes to complement existing restaurants , the Stack and the new hotel .
These developments are creating a critical mass of places to lure more visitors to Sunderland ’ s wonderful seafront .
Alison Gittins , CEO , Durham Business Group When a business club member introduced me to Lambton Park and a peek at the development plans in 2018 , I knew it was meant to be . A year later we were the first residents to move into our new home .
The next phase of the development will include a retail complex , office space , bistro and wellness centre , which is really exciting and great news for our region .
Graeme Anderson , Wear Business editor I ’ m going to cheat and choose two - neither of them yet built !
The £ 10.4m plans to redevelop Durham bus station and £ 28m plans to transform Sunderland railway station are exciting and long overdue .
As gateways to their cities , they ’ re often the first impression a new visitor gets , which makes them so important .
For too long , both have been an embarrassment . Hopefully , they ' ll soon be something for local people to be proud of .
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