In this series, we're taking a closer look at some of the local landmarks that have been designed and built in the North East by NBS customers using NBS software.
The North East Futures University Technical College (UTC) is sited at the heart of Newcastle. Immediately behind Newcastle’s Central Station, the new school sits on the site of George Stephenson's Locomotive yard.
North East Futures UTC will provide young people with a curriculum designed by employers from the fast growing North East Information Technology and Health Science sectors. The school will have a roll of 600 students at full capacity, 150 for each of the four year groups, years 10-13 inclusive. Its design reflects the dual requirement to deliver the National Curriculum alongside its speciality subjects that marry education with aspects of the modern workplace.
North East Futures UTC sits on the site of George Stephenson's locomotive yard
Its location in the Stephenson Quarter is no accident; the city centre location and proximity to major transport connections provides access to a region-wide catchment throughout the North East. Its construction is part of a high profile new mixed use development that offers the opportunity to develop strong and lasting links between business and the school.
The retention, conservation and active reuse of the grade II listed former Hawthorn Engineering Works (HEW) is central to the design of the UTC building. The concept is to construct a new 4 storey linear teaching block immediately adjacent to retained and refurbished Western bay of the HEW. The lower floors and their irregular volumes sit between the two structures.
Hawthorn Engineering Works masonry wall prior to starting work on the UTC structure
The diverse demands of the UTC curriculum, combined with the constraints of the site itself, require all spaces to be as multi-functional and versatile as possible.
The new build block provides simple, functional teaching space, whilst the listed building provides a large proportion of the non-teaching spaces such as assembly hall, dining, practical workshop, and robotics lab and demonstration laboratory.
The two buildings are stitched together by a two storey space glazed at either end. This transition space provides a clear and legible link between the old and the new.
There is an explicit connection between the legacy of innovation that Victorian steam pioneers such as Stephenson and Hawthorn left on the site and the UTC’s mission to educate the inventors of tomorrow
As a specialist digital environment, the UTC intends to showcase future-facing technologies, with the character and texture of the listed building fabric providing a unique environment in which to be educated. Redolent of the exceptional industrial heritage of the site, as well as providing insights into workplaces of the future for the enrolled. Echoes of past industry and manufacture adjacent to hi-tech coding and robotics facilities - an embodiment of the LEP's drive 'code not coal' reshaping the path of a proud history of North East industry.
The HEW will provide a true asset to the UTC with the ability to host a range of functions: assemblies, celebrations, presentations and public events. Both internally and for a host of partner organisations, community users and community groups.
The listed building is celebrated as the centre piece of the school building not only for the functionally but also in helping to shape its identity and reinforce its ethos. There is an explicit connection between the legacy of innovation and entrepreneurship that Victorian steam pioneers such as Stephenson and Hawthorn left on the site and the UTC’s mission to educate the inventors, engineers, thought leaders, scientists, designers and technicians of tomorrow.
