We are delighted to share the news that the Farrell Centre has been announced as a winner of a 2025 RIBA North East Award.
The RIBA Awards celebrate the best new buildings from across the UK. The Farrell Centre was announced as one of the nominees in February and visited by the jury in March. The winners were unveiled at a special event at Tyneside Cinema on Thursday 29 May.
Designed by Space Architects and Elliott Architects, the project was described by the jury as “a tale of two halves”, combining the careful restoration of period features and details with bold contemporary additions. “The most important of these is the insertion of a colourful staircase that connects all the levels together and provides a generous flow through the spaces – key to drawing in the public.”
The jury also praised “The Farrell Centre team [which] has curated a clever and creative programme of spaces throughout the building that appeal to a wide range of users.” In summary, they concluded, “The [project] team has turned the stereotypical idea of an architectural space on its head with joyful and visually welcoming cultural spaces. It actively invites people in to engage with the facilities and opportunities on offer.”
About the project
The Farrell Centre was instigated by renowned architect-planner and Newcastle University graduate Sir Terry Farrell, and forms part of Newcastle University’s School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape. Beginning in 2019, we worked with local practices SPACE Architects and Elliott Architects to restore and transform the historic Grade II-listed Claremont Buildings on the edge of the Newcastle University campus into the Farrell Centre’s new home. You can find out more about the history of our building here.
Owen Hopkins, Director of the Farrell Centre said: “We’re delighted that the Farrell Centre has been recognised with a RIBA North East Award for 2025. As a centre whose mission is about engaging the public with the built environment and ensuring they have a voice in shaping its future, it was vital that our building act as an exemplar of how to boldly yet sensitively reinvent and reinvigorate an historic structure – turning a building that was dark and inward-facing into one that was open and welcoming.
“Given the way visitors have responded to and engaged with the building since the centre opened in 2023, we have certainly felt we achieved this aspiration – and it’s wonderful that the RIBA jury felt so too. I would like, once again, to thank Chris Holmes of Space Architects and Ben Elliott of Elliott Architects, as well as the wider project team, for their unstinting creativity, enthusiasm and patience that has been so vital in making this building such a success.”
About the awards
The Farrell Centre was recognised alongside three other RIBA North East Award winners:
- Ad Gefrin Anglo Saxon Museum and Distillery by Elphick Associates (Building of the Year)
- Rocket House by Napper Architects (Conservation Award)
- Whitburn Coastal Conservation Centre by MawsonKerr Architects
Amy Waite, Associate Director at Mikhail Riches and chair of the RIBA North East Jury, said: “Congratulations to all the winners of this year’s North East Awards. A diverse range of projects, they demonstrate the remarkable impact of great architecture. From a transformed former department store and a carefully conserved micro-holiday home to a rural distillery and a coastal conservation centre, each are a testament to the skills and collaboration of everyone involved.”
Image credits
Photos by Jill Tate