Surgo

The latest addition to the street scene in the west end of Newcastle has been revealed as leading contractor, SURGO Construction completed construction of the £6.5million Beacon project. 

 

Charitable community organisations Centre West and Ground Work STAN (South Tyneside and Newcastle), have recently taken possession of The Beacon - an innovative, environmentally friendly multi-cultural centre. The new building has created a broad range of accommodation and facilities, including commercial office space comprising 17offices ranging in size from 194sqft  to 1,067sqft; a hot desk zone;  and a multi-function conference and banqueting facility located on the top floor of the building.

 

Designed by local architect Ainsworth Sparks, at three storeys high with a floorplate of 35,000sq ft, the new building is substantial and, as its name suggests, a beacon of rejuvenation and enterprise for the local community living in and around the West End.

 

Playing to its strong community focus, The Beacon will play a key role supporting an ethos of enterprise in the area.  It will provide facilities such as a unique artisan mall, within a glass atrium, made up of 12 individual units ranging in size from 291sqft to 200sqft, creating studio and workshop space for artisans and crafts people from the local community to take up residency.

 

In addition to this, the main enterprise support agencies will deliver services within the centre  providing advice to budding entrepreneurs and existing small to medium sized businesses.   The Beacon will also provide facilities for the community to engage in capacity building and support services around pre business start up and employment.

 

Speaking about the landmark building, Rhianne Dixon, centre manager, said:

 

“The aspiration of the Charitable Partnership, Centre West and Groundwork STAN, was to deliver an iconic building for the communities of the West End of Newcastle.  I am delighted to say, thanks to the dedication of the architect’s design team and in particular SURGO Construction, we are undoubtedly going to achieve this. 

 

“ We have a number of the offices and artisan workshops already taken, which clearly demonstrates that there was a need for The Beacon.  The incorporation of our cleverly designed flexible conference space, which is also unique to the area, provides accommodation suitable for workshops, conferences and celebrations for up to 400 people.” 

 

SURGO Construction director, Jeff Alexander, said:

 

“It has been a pleasure to work on such an innovative and much needed project as The Beacon.  Our role was two- fold, which included the initial enabling works followed by construction of the complex multi-cultural building. It is a further example of a local project, delivered by a local company, with the potential to make a unique contribution to the development of the local community.” 

 

With environmental sustainability being a core value of the Partnership, the building is predicted to achieve a BREEAM rating of ‘Excellent’. The project was funded by Centre West and Groundwork STAN and part-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) 2007-2013.