A design competition won by two companies could trigger the transformation of Newcastle riverside to rival cities around the globe .
The Quayside area in Newcastle and Gateshead has long been a cultural hub with its bridges, bars and restaurant and tourist attractions, and the city’s BID, NE1 Ltd, last year unveiled plans to reimagine the riverside and realise its full potential.
Now the Tyne Estuary Partnership, which brings together stakeholders from across sectors to tackle the collective challenge of enhancing the River Tyne, has unveiled the results of a national competition, called Design of Our Tyne, which could become a reality in the quayside's future.
The contest asked firms across the 海角视频 to create a design encompassing Newcastle Quayside for the benefit of those who live, work and play along the iconic estuary to improve the environment, attract visitors and benefit nature with all the health and wellbeing benefits this can generate.
The group is working with Groundwork NE & Cumbria, the Environment Agency and NE1 1ED to build the Tyne Estuary Partnership and develop projects for improvement.
Fairhurst, structural and civil engineers based in Newcastle, and SEL Environmental, based in Blackburn, were shortlisted and invited to pitch their ideas at the Environment Agency’s North East of England offices in Newcastle – and the panel were so impressed that both were declared winners, scooping £1,000.
Combined, the designs could see the Tyne riverscape transformed with a green zone, floating leisure facilities, street planting, floating islands of vegetation and boardwalks.
The next stage of the programme is to try and make the designs a reality, and while the designs are at just at the conceptual stage, proposals could be submitted for planning permissions.
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Laura Fogg, landscape architect with Fairhurst, said: “Our entry for the Design of Our Tyne competition focused on creating a strategic vision for Newcastle Quayside, providing connectivity with the rest of Newcastle by linking to existing NE1 interventions within the city and enhancing the river as a recreational resource which people can interact with and also to provide further habitat enhancements along the River Tyne.
“The idea incorporated elements such as floating islands within the Tyne and boardwalks along the river’s edge allowing improved interaction between the water as well as further biodiversity enhancements. We hope that through this strategic vision we’ll be able to work with the EA, The Water Hub and Groundworks NE & Cumbria to provide a really fantastic vision for the future of Newcastle Quayside.”
Jack Shuttleworth, business development at SEL Environmental, said: “Our pitch for the solution of the Design of Our Tyne Challenge involved incorporating our own products to make the green zone a reality. We’ll use real live products to try and bring what could be an idea to real life and make it possible.
“We believe this project could bring a great deal of tourism and footfall to Newcastle Quayside and at the same time introduce the potential for an increased greener infrastructure. The project will complement the riverside location and create a nice place for people who work nine to five, tourists and visitors to enjoy and become the centre of attention for Newcastle.”
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Director of communications at Newcastle NE1, Stephen Patterson, added: “I think both shortlisted submissions for Design of Our Tyne were absolutely fantastic, showing the scale of the opportunities but also the challenges presented by the quayside stretch of the river running through Newcastle.”