Flyover Futures – winners revealed

We are delighted to announce the four winners of the ideas competition, kindly supported by the Northern Architectural Association, which explores speculative alternatives futures for the Gateshead flyover and post-war infrastructure more broadly.

Using the opportunity of the sudden closure of the Gateshead Flyover and its now impending demolition, we asked entrants to explore possibilities for re-using, re-imagining and re-constituting the flyover and what that could offer the city and the region: from the environmental and economic upsides, to the opportunities for supporting health, wellbeing and civic pride by creating a new green space in the heart of Gateshead.

Entries were judged by a panel comprising:

• Dr Paola Gazzola, Head of the School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape, Newcastle University
• Neil Barker, architect and President of the Northern Architectural Association
• Professor Richard J. Williams, Professor of Contemporary Visual Cultures, University of Edinburgh
• Dr Alistair Ford, Senior Lecturer in Geospatial Data Analytics, Newcastle University

We were overwhelmed by the quality of the submission and our judges had a hard time selecting the four winners, who will each receive an honorarium of £250 thanks to the Northern Architectural Association, and have what I hope will be an additional honour of their proposals displayed in the Farrell Centre for the next few weeks.

The Gateshead Renewal

EcoResponsive Environments

When urban structures like the Gateshead Flyover fall into disuse they don’t just mark an end, but signal a beginning. Inspired by natural regeneration, this proposal for the flyover’s reimagining sees it as a living framework that fosters social connection, ecological health, and community well-being. Our vision for the flyover emphasises integration, diversity, and synergy – reconnecting spaces, revitalizing local economies, restoring biodiversity, and embedding sustainable mobility.

At its core is the Diversity Toolkit, a flexible design guide that adapts to the flyover’s structure, supporting gradual, community-led transformation. It empowers stakeholders to create place-specific solutions that evolve over time.

Through this approach, the flyover shifts from a divisive structure to a connective seam in the city – where nature, infrastructure, and everyday life interweave. Owned by the community through the Gateshead Trust, the project reinvests the local growth it creates via affordable rents, skills training, arts, and green technology – collective imagination and care turns forgotten infrastructure into a thriving, inclusive civic landscape.

Flyover Commons

Tonkin Liu, Ash Sakula and OURI Labs

The Gateshead Flyover slices through a vibrant area full of people, potential, and ecological richness just waiting to be reconnected. Demolishing it would waste 8,000–12,000 tonnes of embodied carbon – equivalent to 30 million car miles. Instead, we see opportunity for transforming the flyover into a vibrant civic and ecological asset.

Inspired by Paris’s Promenade Plantée, Flyover Commons reimagines the structure as a lush, elevated landscape. Features include rainwater-fed community gardens, misting systems, biofiltration gardens, and glowing mesh tubes that channel water into underground reservoirs. Above, an arboreal walkway with fruit trees, ecology labs, and solar-powered kiosks creates a space that’s both green and socially enriching.

Built from reclaimed local materials, the project aims to become a new heart for Gateshead – culturally, ecologically, and communally. This vision invites public input and creativity, offering a model for reusing redundant infrastructure to shape a greener, more connected city centre.

Community and Connectivity in Nature: Reclaiming the Flyover for Gateshead

Colour

This proposal reimagines the Gateshead Flyover as a vibrant, inclusive civic space that reconnects people, nature, and neighbourhoods at the heart of the city. Once a symbol of division and car dominance, the flyover is transformed into a green public asset that supports biodiversity, fosters community life, and improves connectivity. Currently limited in pedestrian and cycle access and lacking in green space, the site sits in one of the UK’s most deprived areas – making regeneration vital.

The vision is built around three key aims:

• Biodiversity – turning the flyover into a green corridor to restore urban ecology.
• Connectivity – introducing safe, direct walking and cycling routes to link communities with the city centre.
• Community – creating an accessible public space for people of all ages and backgrounds.

The design activates the space both above and below the structure, forming a vertical, layered network of social and ecological life that redefines Gateshead’s urban core.

Gateshead Urban Pier

Max Cooper-Clark

The Gateshead Urban Pier reimagines the flyover – once a barrier of concrete and car dominance – as a vibrant, inclusive public space. The 1960s infrastructure fragmented the riverside, making land and air inaccessible to people and nature alike. This proposal transforms the elevated motorway into a dynamic urban pier, inspired by medieval bridges and Victorian piers, offering a new landscape of health, ecology, and social life.

Accessed via existing ramps and new lift towers, the preserved structure hosts ecological walkways, community allotments, and raised playscapes. Beneath, the undercroft becomes a hub for local life – with sports facilities, markets, laundrettes, repair shops, and even a cinema. Glazed gaps in the concrete house winter gardens, merging thermal mass with natural light.

This vision turns a divisive structure into a platform of connectivity and regeneration – supporting biodiversity, fostering community, and providing essential amenities. The Urban Pier becomes a destination where Gateshead can flourish.