It's the height of ambition

Mar 6 2008 by Graeme King, The Journal

THE tallest building in the North East is being planned for a key development site in the centre of Sunderland.

The Spirit of Sunderland would be a 100-metre high, 33-storey structure in the heart of the city, in the £150m Holmeside Triangle scheme being developed by Thornfield Properties of London.

Yesterday, the company’s chief executive Michael Capocci described the building as “sculptural” and explained how it was based on the shape of two scrolls, to represent Sunderland’s connection with the learning of the Venerable Bede. Thornfield was selected 18 months ago to develop the Holmeside site with apartments, shops, restaurants, cafes, bars and leisure facilities, but only now have the details of the Spirit of Sunderland building been revealed.

The proposed building would be substantially taller than any other structure in the North East, with its nearest challenger being the 29 storeys of the “Dunston Rocket” block of flats in Gateshead, followed by the 28 storeys of Vale House in Newcastle, which overlooks Jesmond Vale. Mr Capocci explained how the Spirit of Sunderland idea came about. He said: “The apartment block is not about apartments, it’s about a sculpture, something iconic, something people can use. If it was not apartments, we would still build this structure. It occurred to me how flat the horizon was in Sunderland, how close the sea was, and that you could see out a long way.

“If you put all those things together, it would be great to have an iconic structure in Sunderland which could potentially be the tallest in the North East.”

Mr Capocci said Thornfield gave the company’s architects Page & Park a brief to come up with something imaginative.

He said: “We told the architects it must not be a random object. They researched the history of Sunderland and identified Bede as the monk who founded the city. He always had his scrolls, so we designed the building as a pair of scrolls. That’s what it represents. This is more than just about buildings, it’s about people. We want to do something that attracts people and makes them feel good about their town centre. We are looking at having a viewing platform at the top of the building. I would guarantee that everybody in the North East would go and visit it.

Thornfield is concerned that its plans are given every chance to succeed in the context of how Sunderland develops as a city, with the Vaux brewery site set for redevelopment, and The Bridges shopping centre aiming to expand into the space currently occupied by Crowtree Leisure Centre.