The North East

Architecture and design in the North East of England is rooted in the culture of the North East of England. From the railway buildings of John Dobson to the miners' housing of the Northumberland and Durham coalfields and the dramatic bridges over the Wear, the Tees and the Tyne, the North East has created distinctive and innovative solutions to making places and meeting needs through excellent design. In the 20th century advances in technology, economic shifts and increase in motor traffic made radical changes to the shape of the places where we live and work. The amount of development increased, buildings became bigger, and could be built of cheaper materials. Familiar places were damaged, and as a result we have become less confident about how to make changes to our environment. The social and economic pressures caused by the collapse of the North East's traditional industries have also lowered aspirations that good design is both possible and worthwhile.

Northern Architecture believes that to meet the needs of the rapidly changing North East, architects, developers and client need to consider carefully the choice of materials, the scale of new buildings and developments, the balance between people and traffic, and how new developments relate to their existing neighbours. But we also believe that we should re-connect building and development to culture, and to the culture of the North East. This means re-connecting the people who live in, visit and use the places of the North East with the process of shaping those places.

This part of our site will be developed in future to provide different angles on the North East and the context for the work of Northern Architecture. In the mean time we have prepared a directory of key sites to relevant aspects of the North East.