Sandyford House is a large office development on Sandyford Road in

Sandyford, Newcastle upon Tyne Sandyford is a small district in central Newcastle upon Tyne. It represents the north-eastern border of central Newcastle, with the suburbs of Jesmond to the north and Heaton to the east. Population Similarly to neighbouring Jesmond, Sandyfor ...

. It was the offices and meeting place of Tyne and Wear County Council from its formation in 1974 until it was abolished in 1986.

History

The building formed part of a wider initiative in the early 1970s to redevelop a residential area known as Archbold Terrace. Sandyford House itself was a 6-storey office block at the back (i.e. north) of the site: the complex also included a 6-storey office block at the front left (i.e. south west) known as Scottish Life House and a 10-storey tower block at the front right (i.e. south east) known as Archbold House as well as a public house, which was integrated into Sandyford House, known as the Royal Archer. The design of the public house was commended by the

Royal Institute of British Architects The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is a professional body for architects primarily in the United Kingdom, but also internationally, founded for the advancement of architecture under its royal charter granted in 1837, three suppl ...

in 1976. Sandyford House, which was designed in the brutalist style and built by

Sir Robert McAlpine Sir Robert McAlpine Limited is a family-owned building and civil engineering company based in Hemel Hempstead, England. It carries out engineering and construction in the infrastructure, heritage, commercial, arena and stadium, healthcare, educa ...

with a

reinforced concrete Reinforced concrete (RC), also called reinforced cement concrete (RCC) and ferroconcrete, is a composite material in which concrete's relatively low tensile strength and ductility are compensated for by the inclusion of reinforcement having hig ...

frame, was completed in c.1974. The design of the complex allowed vehicle access to Sandyford House from the south through an opening in the main frontage of Scottish Life House; Sandyford House became the offices and meeting place of Tyne and Wear County Council when it was formed in April 1974. The punk comic '' Viz'', established by

Chris Donald Chris Donald (born 25 April 1960 in Newcastle, England) is the founder of, and one of the principal contributors to, the British comic magazine '' Viz''. Biography Donald attended West Jesmond Primary School,http://www.communitychannel.org/con ...

in 1979, was also based in the complex. After Tyne and Wear County Council was abolished in 1986, Sandyford House was adapted for use by the

Department of Social Security The Department of Social Security (DSS) was a governmental agency in the United Kingdom from 1988 to 2001. The old abbreviation is still often used informally. Advertisements for rented accommodation used to describe prospective tenants who wou ...

. In the 1990s a 5-storey block on the east side of the complex was occupied by the energy efficiency business,

Eaga Eaga plc was a British company supplying energy efficiency products. It was headquartered in Newcastle upon Tyne. In April 2011 it was acquired by Carillion. History The business was founded in 1990 in Newcastle upon Tyne as the Energy Action ...

, and became known as "Eaga House". The whole complex was acquired by the developer, Jomast, in 2004, who branded it Jesmond Three Sixty. After Eaga moved to

Partnership House Partnership House (historically The Tower) is a landmark tower office building in Gosforth, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom. It is located within the Regent Centre business park, and was originally built to act as the main entrance and landma ...

Gosforth Gosforth is a suburb of the city and metropolitan borough of Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It constituted a separate Urban district (Great Britain and Ireland), urban district from 1895 until 1974 before officially merging with the city of New ...

in 2009, Jomast submitted proposals to

Newcastle City Council Newcastle City Council is the local government authority for the city and metropolitan borough of Newcastle upon Tyne. The council consists of 78 councillors, three for each of the 26 wards in the city. It is currently controlled by the Labou ...

for the conversion of Eaga House into apartments, a project which was completed in January 2016. The developer went on to present proposals for the conversion of Sandyford House into apartments as well in December 2017. Following the acquisition and demolition of the former Quaker Meeting House, located on an adjacent site on the east side, Jomast also presented proposals to build an 18-storey tower in the area.

References

{{reflist Buildings and structures in Newcastle upon Tyne County halls in England Government buildings completed in 1974