The biggest office development in Newcastle city centre’s history has been given the all clear, after the Government brushed aside heritage groups’ fears.
The huge Pilgrim’s Quarter complex, which will house thousands of HMRC workers once it opens in 2027, has received a major boost with confirmation that it will not be called in by Michael Gove. Members of Newcastle City Council’s planning committee approved the £155m Reuben Brothers development in April, but complaints that a prominent listed building must be “effectively demolished” to make way for the gigantic office block meant that the decision had to be referred to the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.
Heritage bodies including Historic England and the Twentieth Century Society raised concerns about the damage that will be done to Carliol House. The Market Street building’s Art Deco façade will be retained and incorporated into the new offices, but its interior will be torn down – a move that it was claimed would result in “substantial and irreversible” harm to the former headquarters of the North Eastern Electricity Supply Company.
