Regeneration - Animation brings area to life

Dec 11 2006 By Karen Mclauchlan, The Journal

Regeneration projects are powering ahead across our region. Karen McLauchlan takes a closer look.

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You know the old saying - play to your strengths. And that's exactly what Middlesbrough is doing with its DigitalCity regeneration project. In recent years, Teesside University - and the town - has established an enviable reputation in the field of computer games, digital media, animation and creative industries.

Last year, it was named as one of the top six establishments for teaching animation in the UK.

The university is home to state-of-the-art virtual reality technology. And the town's Animex animation festival continues to attract top names from the industry.

This year was no exception, enticing people behind movie hits such as Wallace and Gromit and Finding Nemo.

DigitalCity aims to create a vibrant, successful and self-sustaining "supercluster" in the Tees Valley.

In less than three years, DigitalCity has grown from a simple paper exercise into a fully functional project, which is attracting investment and collaboration on unprecedented levels. From new buildings and business units to education, training and research, DigitalCity is working right across the town centre. The project includes The Institute of Digital Innovation and the Centre for Creative Technologies. The £21m development will see two buildings, based on Teesside University's Middlesbrough campus.

The £12m IDI is being built in what was formerly part of the Evening Gazette's car park in Stephenson Street and the new £9m Centre for Creative Technologies will be on the corner of Woodlands Road and Southfield Road.

The developments will give computing, media and design students the opportunity to study together in a first class learning environment and provide a nerve centre for Teesside's ambitious DigitalCity project, which aims to create up to 300 jobs and 130 firms in three years.

Both buildings will be complete by next summer and will open next August. Plans are in the pipeline to create The Boho Zone, a creative industries quarter centred on a regenerated Queens Square/Exchange Square in central Middlesbrough next to the Middlehaven site.

Run in partnership between the Teesside University and Middlesbrough Council, and funded by the Middlesbrough Partnership, DigitalCity's vision is that by 2010 it will be a key part of the regeneration of the Tees Valley, as well as being the UK's digital hub, with a renowned world reputation for innovation, creativity and daring.

Leading the project is DigitalCity business director Mark Elliott.

The 49-year-old has a wealth of experience in creative industries, having worked as a director and writer for the film industry in London. He was involved in a number of branding campaigns, including making commercials for Volkswagen and Coca Cola.

And he got his first taste of Teesside after taking up the post of creative director at Middlesbrough Football Club,

"We want to attract and retain creative people," said Mark.

A key element of DigitalCity is the creation of a Boho quarter.

"It's Middlesbrough's version of Soho," explained Mark. "This project is not just about buildings, equipment and education, it's about creating an environment where people can network and share ideas.

"It's in cafes, bars, restaurants and clubs where people meet, talk and come up with new ideas."

The creative quarter will be in Victorian properties and proposed new buildings clustered around the centre of Middlesbrough.

Newcastle's Xsite Architecture has designed an office building that is proposed to form the centrepiece of the DigitalCity Boho quarter.

A detailed planning application is to be submitted for the £7.5m Digital Enterprise Centre, which would provide home for start-up and growing businesses offering the latest technological infrastructure.

The 30,000sq ft, four-storey office building will anchor stage one of the development. A planning decision is due early next year with work projected to begin later in the year. Mark said: "We're not trying to compete with Soho, we're taking inspiration from it to create our own version here."

Xsite principal architect Tim Bailey said: "This is a great opportunity for us to make a difference in an area which has been neglected for many years, but still retains much of its historic architectural integrity, with a number of buildings left over from the Victorian period.

"Our job will be to reflect on the best parts of what has survived and integrate high quality new buildings, such as the Digital Enterprise Centre, within it.

"The building will have a line of sight direct to the town centre, leaving local people in no doubt that things are starting to happen on the wider redevelopment.

"It will also be one of the most environmentally friendly buildings in the Tees Valley, with considerably more than 10% of its energy being produced on site from renewable sources, meaning it should reach the very highest standard for buildings of this type."

Other initiatives include DigitalCity Fellowships where exciting graduate talent in the digital areas are offered help and support to develop ideas and create businesses.

Support includes funding, resources and mentoring, from people with vast experience and knowledge of the industry.

After just three years, hundreds of people have benefited, international awards are being won and businesses are being started.

Events, such as the hugely successful Animex animation festival, are also helping put Teesside on the creative industries map.

A Museum of Digital Media is also planned, incorporating animation and computer games virtual reality. Mark said: "This project has grown way beyond its first ambitions. It's probably about 10 times bigger than the project first imagined.

"By 2010, our goal is to ensure we have a successful economic regeneration project that is vibrant, successful and with a world reputation for creativity, technical innovation and achieved with great talent.

"I want the fact that people have trained or set up a business in this sector on Teesside to be a key to their success - I want DigitalCity to be a real door-opener."

He said: "Work is pushing ahead, but this project also has a long way to go.

"By 2010 we'll probably only be half way there. This kind of project needs 10 to 15 years.

"It won't happen overnight - but we're in it for the long haul.

"It is something for us all to be proud of."

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Destination prosperity as old rail works to be transformed

A major regeneration scheme on Tyneside is planned to create 1,100 jobs.

Work on the first phase is to start this month.

The Point, at Gateshead Quays, is UK Land Estate's 300,000sq ft mixed use development on the site of the former Greenesfield railway works, overlooking the Tyne gorge.

The site will comprise a mix of refurbished Victorian railway buildings converted to bars and restaurants together with new contemporary offices and a four-star hotel.

It will include 157,000sq ft of grade A offices.

The Point, designed by Newcastle architects Faulkner Browns, will offer a 140-bed hotel, three individual office buildings, with floors available from 1,151sq ft up to 10,893sq ft, and 11,000sq ft of retail and leisure to complement Bellway's adjoining Ochre Yards which has consent for 649 flats.

The scheme will be built in stages. UK Land Estates associate director Tim Witty said: "The first phase is due to get under way this month. (DEC)

"It will see the restoration of a former railway building into 4,000sq ft of office accommodation. It's a building that has become increasingly dilapidated, so we're keen to get started with work." Work on the hotel and two further phases of offices will follow. Mr Witty said: "We're hoping to start work on a new phase mid-2007.

"That will include a nine-storey office building."

The plans were developed in consultation with English Heritage and the Commission for Architecture in the Built Environment (Cabe).

Mr Witty said: "The Point and Ochre Yards have been designed to promote the best of modern living, working and leisure environments within a central quayside location. The Point will deliver the critical mass and an optimal balance of commercial uses that are intrinsic to this aim.

"The development will be a huge boost for the area and will create hundreds of jobs for the region.

"We have been working closely with the planners to ensure the scheme is in keeping with the rest of the Gateshead Quays and feel certain it will continue the successful regeneration of the riverfront."

Bellway Homes managing director Barry Miller said: "We are delighted to see our vision of a true mixed use urban village coming to fruition through The Point and Ochre Yards to further enhance the renaissance of the Newcastle Gateshead quayside."