A 1.25 million square feet urban business park, won in international competition, close to the new developments on Gateshead Quays. This ambitious multi million pound masterplan establishes the first genuine office quarter in Gateshead, and effectively shifts the centre of gravity of Gateshead Town centre towards the Gateshead Quays. Over the next ten years is set to create a major new gateway for investment.

The urban character of the scheme sets it apart from most business park concepts. It is designed around a series of public, tree lined, and pedestrian prioritised boulevards which will be laced with artwork and seating. Buildings and their principal entrances are positioned at the back of footpaths to enclose the street spaces, and cars are relegated to underground, and enclosed courtyard locations. Only disabled visitors and vehicles dropping off visitors will be allowed onto the beautifully landscaped boulevards which form a simple and effective framework through the site making the scheme permeable and legible for users. The streets will create a quality and quiet ambience that knits the scheme into a cohesive whole whilst allowing the architecture to vary organically from site to site.

Within the framework of boulevards, which rise and fall organically to reflect the existing contours, the buildings will reflect the scale and grandeur of the adjacent riverside developments. The steeply sloping site is used to maximum affect through the use of large retaining walls that effectively create level plateaus of development with buildings of between 3 and 6 storeys giving frequent views to the Tyne Gorge and the dramatic Newcastle skyline.

To control overall design and to ensure consistency in identity redboxdesigngroup prepared a detailed masterplan and are appointed as master planners and executive architects for all the buildings on the site. The new Gateshead College, completed in 2009 was the first building on the site, and is strategically positioned on the west side of the Baltic Business Quarter creating a link for students into the new commercial quarter. The first bespoke building has been sold to the Open University. Its simple form which effectively addresses the public boulevard demonstrates the urban design strategy that was clearly defined in the developed masterplan document. The 60,000 sq ft Northern Design Centre sits at the very heart of the site, axially positioned on the new boulevards. It is currently under construction.