New future for Newcastle’s Stephenson loco works building

NEWCASTLE City Council has given the green light to £8.7 million plans to refurbish a derelict Grade II listed building which was once part of Robert Stephenson’s locomotive works.

The Pattern Shop in South Street behind Newcastle Central station has fallen into disrepair after being left empty for more than a decade.

The 1860s building is to be converted into a low-carbon office development to be occupied by around 300 staff, the development completing the rebirth of the city’s historic Stephenson Quarter, the council’s planning committee decided on February 4.

The council will now team up with PfP igloo to form a joint venture company, Stephenson Works LLP, which will facilitate the regeneration of 4.3 acres of brownfield land, creating around 2000 jobs. The council will contribute the land and the developers will contribute an equal share of capital investment to bring plots forward.

Coun Ged Bell, the council’s cabinet member for development, said: “It’s an incredibly important building from a historical point of view being at the forefront of the industrial revolution.

“Robert Stephenson fitted out engines there – 3000 were shipped all over the world as far afield as America and Egypt putting Newcastle on the international map.

“With its historic buildings, the Stephenson Quarter is a gem of a development site. We’ve had great success with the previous developer the Clouston Group bringing forward the hotel, technical college and offices, but this new phase will accentuate the heritage of many of its listed buildings which makes the site unique.”