Plans to create a new landmark leisure scheme on the banks of the Tyne have taken a step forward after an application was submitted by the original team behind former favourite By The River Brew Co.
Work to repair the Tyne Bridge triggered the closure of the beloved Gateshead brewery, taproom and street food emporium last year, after bringing in thousands of locals and tourists over six fun-filled years. The shipping container complex had radically transformed the empty patch of land at Hillgate, with its adjoining HWKRMRKT street food destination drawing in thousands of foodie fans, and celebrity chefs including Gordon Ramsay and Jay Rayner heaping praise on its Michelin Guide-praised restaurant Trakol.
Founders Dave Stone and Rob Cameron had said By The River Brew Co would only stay in place until 2022 but its popularity led to it staying an extra two years, only finally bringing down the shutters last September. Now plans for the shipping container village to make a permanent return to Gateshead in a new guise have been submitted to planners.
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New images were teased last Christmas, showing how version 2.0 could look, with a new style including an event space on the banks of the Tyne with private gardens. Founders Mr Stone and Mr Cameron have previously have yet to reveal the new name for the new version of By The River Brew Co.
Documents sent to Gateshead planners by Newcastle based landscape architects OOBE highlight the developers’ 30 years-plus experience in the hospitality business, having founded “nationally significant businesses” like Wylam Brewery, The Bridge Tavern and Town Wall. The plans propose to dismantle and remove the HWKRMRKT shipping container street food market and outdoor events space, and create a new events venue building in its place.
At the centre of the site, directly under the Tyne Bridge, the existing shipping container cafe and bike shop building is to be reduced in size and repurposed as a seasonal outdoor bar. Meanwhile an existing shipping container bar, restaurant and brewery building is to be refurbished and the brewery function will be removed from the site.
Other changes include the creation of a new build bike shop and workshop, the construction of a new seasonal outdoor bar structure, as well as new ancillary buildings for storage, refuse and plant.
The planning statement says: “Since 2018 the site has been operating as a hospitality led, mixed use development (HWKRMRKT and By The River Brew Co) housed in repurposed shipping containers. “The proposal contained in this application is seen as an evolution of this successful temporary development, aiming to create a high quality, city centre destination located below the iconic Tyne Bridge.
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“Over the last six years the By The River operation has provided successful proof of concept for this type of development on this site, in commercial and operational terms as well as contributing to the vibrancy and cultural offer of Gateshead and the wider region.
“Putting sustainability at its heart, the proposal seeks where possible to repurpose and add to the existing development rather than demolish and build entirely from scratch. This philosophy runs through site use, scale and massing, servicing, infrastructure and interface with the existing context.”
The application adds: “These buildings will be set in a hard and soft landscaped ‘riverside park’ including a central ‘square’ below the Tyne Bridge, underneath a permanent canopy structure providing shelter from the elements and nesting Kittiwakes above.
“The proposed development will benefit Gateshead, the local community and economy by providing a high quality mixed use scheme on a site identified as a key development plot on the south bank of the Tyne.”
The company directors added: "We are excited to be moving our plans forward to the next stage of the development and look forward to progressing with the project. We have some exciting news in regard to the terrace which will bear fruit in the coming weeks and mean that people can still enjoy summer on the south side this year. We will be releasing details of this on our socials on in the coming days."