On Monday 12 May works began to redevelop the interior of Durant
Hall, a GRADE II listed church in Ellison Place, Newcastle Upon Tyne. The
project will include the renovation and refurbishment of the existing spaces to
create much-needed additional teaching spaces for Northumbria University.
Durant Hall was acquired by the University in May 2023, and
since then significant time has been spent working with contractors, John
Flowers, to refurbish the ten roofs on the church many of which were blighted
by dry and wet rot. Due to the listed status of the building this was
complicated work and needed to be done with due deference, and the final stages
of this work were completed last month, enabling the team to move on to the
next stage, which is to redevelop the building’s interior.
Northumbria University will be working with Aptus
Construction as principal contractor, who have designed the interior to create
state-of-the art teaching facilities while maintaining the heritage of the
building. Wherever feasible, the building’s historic fabric is being retained
and restored, but the project also includes significant accessibility upgrades,
including new ramps and a platform lift providing access across all four
floors. Once completed the building will house two, tiered lecture theatres comprising
400 seats and 150 seats and a flat teaching room of up to 60 seats, providing
much needed additional flexible teaching space for faculties across the
University.
Aptus Managing Director Chris Price commented: "Revitalising
a Grade II listed building like Durant Hall requires a balance between
conservation and innovation. Through close collaboration with Northumbria
University and our consultant team, we’ve developed a scheme that respects the
building’s historic fabric while integrating modern interventions to support
contemporary academic and community use. It’s a testament to what adaptive
reuse can achieve in the built environment.”
Northumbria’s partnership with Aptus has been augmented with
excellent support from other partners on the project which include Architects
Group, Jasper Kerr, Desco, Apex Acoustics, Hedley Planning, Hydrock
Consultants, Savana Environmental, Gardiner and Theobald, Naylors Gavin Black,
Knowles & Co Ltd and Adept Building Consultancy
Commenting on the project, University Executive Sponsor,
Professor Graham Wynn, Pro-Vice Chancellor for Education said:
“I am extremely grateful for the work John Flowers have done
to refurbish the roofs on Durant Hall, and want to congratulate Aptus
Construction and all our partners for coming together to create a grand design
for the interior of the building which will be of huge benefit to staff and
students once the works are complete.
I look forward to works starting on 12 May and to seeing
progress along the way which will complete in May next year ahead of the
2026/27 Academic Year.”
The works on Durant Hall form part of a wider scheme of
building works planned by the University, which will transform the southern
area of the Northumbria campus. These include development of NESST – the North
East Space Skills and Technology Centre – and Mea House, another GRADE II
listed building in Ellison Place.
