Sunniside is a district of Sunderland, North East England, towards the eastern side of the city centre, bounded to the west by Fawcett Street, to the south by Borough Road, and to the north and east by the Inner Ring road. A significant programme of urban development has established Sunniside as a centre of culture, film, dining, entertainment and art in the city. It is also known as the historic heart of Sunderland's legal and real estate sectors, with many solicitors and estate agencies based in the area.

History

Sunniside grew up in the

Victorian Era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardia ...

as the original business centre of Sunderland. At the height of Sunderland's power as a shipbuilding centre, most of the mercantile insurance and reinsurance companies and other associated business functions were based in Sunniside, as were a substantial number of foreign consulates, including the

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and

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

. Situated between West Sunniside and Norfolk Street is the old General Post Office building, now converted to residential use. As the economic fortunes of Sunderland waned in the 1980s, however, many of the lucrative businesses left Sunniside and many others moved westward to new locations in the city centre and out of town, leaving the area to become plagued by

urban decay Urban decay (also known as urban rot, urban death or urban blight) is the sociological process by which a previously functioning city, or part of a city, falls into disrepair and decrepitude. There is no single process that leads to urban deca ...

. In the late 1990s, the Sunniside district was earmarked by the local council as a priority for urban renewal.

Regeneration

In 2003, Sunderland's area regeneration company, Sunderland Arc released 15 year long proposals for

Urban regeneration Urban renewal (also called urban regeneration in the United Kingdom and urban redevelopment in the United States) is a program of land redevelopment often used to address urban decay in cities. Urban renewal involves the clearing out of bligh ...

in the area, and they worked with the

One Northeast One North East was the regional development agency for the North East England region. History It was established in April 1999. The North East received government aid for regeneration. In June 2010, it was announced that One North East was to ...

regional redevelopment corporation and the city council to begin improvements on Sunniside with an investment. In 2007, the first redevelopment was completed; bringing the old Sunniside Gardens back to life with a complete makeover and a modern iconic sculpture to go along with it. and the following year after that new bars and cafes in the area were opened, along with the new £6 million development arts centre, "ThePlace".

Awards

The regeneration projects of Sunniside have won two national awards for their revival of that area of the city. In 2007, the area won an award from the Landscape Institute Awards and in 2008 Sunniside the North East Renaissance Award from the

Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) is a global professional body for surveyors, founded in London in 1868. It works at a cross-governmental level, and aims to promote and enforce the highest international standards in the va ...

Film-making

Sunniside is home to the film company Tanner Films Ltd. which was set up in 2008. The company's first film, a crime drama called "King of the North" starring

Angus MacFadyen Angus Macfadyen (born 21 September 1963) is a Scottish actor. His roles include Robert the Bruce, both in ''Braveheart'' and ''Robert the Bruce'', Komodo in ''Warriors of Virtue'', Vice-Counsel Dupont in '' Equilibrium'', Jeff Denlon in the '' ...

, is currently under production after it secured a £6 million deal from MonteCristo International at the

Cannes film festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...

Attractions

Because of the regeneration projects and other private investment, Sunniside now has a strong range of attractions: * Sunniside Gardens * ThePlace modern art centre * Northern Gallery of Contemporary Art

References

{{T&W places City of Sunderland suburbs Sunderland