Newcastle East End is a combination of adaptive re-use and new build that forms a rich tapestry that extends to the existing character of the city.

The project sets the benchmark for a collective of architects, designers, planners, experts, and local councils collaborating to achieve a development that is characterful, viable and sustainable. A key move identified during the masterplan process was the opportunities offered by the site’s unique and steeply undulating topography. Utilising the change in levels allowed several connections to be made through the site to adjoining streets that has created a highly permeable and exciting movement network where routes cross and intersect at key points within the CBD.

SJB was retained as design architect for the Perkins and King building, and the executive architect for Block 1, along with Durbach Block Jaggers as architect for Fabric House, Tonkin Zulaikha Greer as architect of Washington House and ASPECT Studios as a landscape architect. A consistent design approach across the development, based on the architects collective ambition for a protected civic space at the ground plane, has resulted in four exceptional buildings that reflect a shared agenda to retain historical fabric while referencing the nuances of the surrounding city. The materiality and façade modulation complement the adjacent historic buildings on the site.

All four buildings share services and a basement, giving back space at the ground for a more active base. The new shared green space across the ground plane and building courtyards on levels one, two and six creates an urban backyard for residents, and provides passive surveillance to the open ground. Public furniture and a water feature create an ambient hum in the centre of the site, providing a backdrop to community life and enticing users to stop and stay.

Furniture: Outdoor furniture custom designed by ASPECT Studio. Lighting: Bounce Lighting. Finishes: Laminex, Dulux, Worldstone, Surface Gallery, Godfrey Hirst, Polytech, Premium Floors, Porters Paints, Classic Ceramic.

Photography: Tom Roe (1, 2), Brett Boardman (3, 4, 5, 6).