Westgate House was a 46-metre (150 ft) office block that was situated on Westgate Road opposite Newcastle station in the

Grainger Town Grainger Town is the historic commercial centre of Newcastle upon Tyne, England. Incorporating classical streets built by Richard Grainger, a builder and developer, between 1824 and 1841, some of Newcastle's finest buildings and streets lie wi ...

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...

, England. The 12-storey

Brutalist Brutalist architecture is an architectural style that emerged during the 1950s in the United Kingdom, among the reconstruction projects of the post-war era. Brutalist buildings are characterised by Minimalism (art), minimalist constructions th ...

building was completed in 1972 and was demolished in 2006–07. The building straddled the eastern end of Westgate Road, and was designed to have the appearance of a "gateway" to the city centre. After being completed, it housed several government agencies. The last to use the building was the Citizen's Advice Bureau, who were based on the ground floor until 2001. According to the ''

Evening Chronicle The ''Evening Chronicle'', now referred to as ''The Comical'', is a daily newspaper produced in Newcastle upon Tyne covering North regional news, but primarily focused on Newcastle upon Tyne and surrounding area. The ''Comical'' is published by ...

'', by 2001 "it was well-established as one of the ugliest and unpopular buildings on Tyneside". The vast concrete structure was particularly criticised for being out of place with the Victorian buildings around it. Westgate House was featured on the

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

television series, ''

Demolition Demolition (also known as razing, cartage, and wrecking) is the science and engineering in safely and efficiently tearing down of buildings and other artificial structures. Demolition contrasts with deconstruction, which involves taking a ...

'' where it was voted as one of twelve buildings that deserved to be demolished. However, in BBC News Magazine, it was nominated as an 'unsung landmark'. Developers OneNorthEast acquired the building in 2001 and initially considered renovating it as a hotel. In 2005, they and Newcastle City Council instead announced that the building would be demolished, with the work beginning in late 2006 and finishing in January 2007
City approves eyesore demolition
' – BBC News, 1 April 2005 (Accessed 4 March 2007) allowing for the site's redevelopment. Westgate House had to be taken down piece by piece as neighbouring buildings were too close to allow for a controlled explosion. Demolition started off slowly at first as a result of the unique construction method used on the 11th floor, which was a plant room, and the 12th floor which was stronger than other floors because of the roof slab.Thompsons of Prudhoe: Westgate House
/ref> Demolition was completed upon the removal of the 'stilts' at the base of the building.

References

External links

Skyscrapernews.comOneNorthEast news
Office buildings completed in 1972 Buildings and structures in Newcastle upon Tyne Brutalist architecture in England Demolished buildings and structures in England Buildings and structures demolished in 2007 {{TyneandWear-struct-stub