Ellison Place, MEA House

By Ryder & Yates for MEA Trust (Mungo Campbell, Esther McCracken and Alastair Fife). Community Services Building. Completed in 1974, the first purpose-built British building to house a range of charitable services. Height was restricted to that of the adjacent early C19 terraces. The main floors hang from four main girders set at roof level, with nine steel yokes acting as roof trusses. The main block is mirror glass-clad with three service towers. A long east ramp leads to a pedestrian deck system. A wide west curve of brick envelops an auditorium. The building's juxtaposition with the C19 houses of Ellison Place is 'less happy' but on a good day one can see the sharp reflections of the brick houses in the glass wall. Rutter Carroll - on the ground floor there was a curved auditorium, a kitchen, waiting room, office, pram store, workshops and library. There was a penthouse with a curved roof. The structural system of the building, with its virendeel trusses, suspended floors etc was unique. The interior had movable partitions to create a flexible space. The main elevations were clad in Corning mirror glass, imported from Pittsburgh, in aluminium frames. The concrete gable end walls were faced in a glass aggregate resin finish. Brown brindle brick was used on the ground floor, inside and out. The roofing felt was aluminium faced. Internal finishes were simple - PVC tiled floors, painted plaster walls and acoustic tiled suspended ceilings. The building was awarded a RIBA Commendation in 1976 and a Civic Trust Award in 1979. Rutter Carroll describes MEA House as 'one of Newcastle's finest modern buildings' and 'one of the centre's best pieces of townscape'. Stephen Gardiner wrote in 1976: 'MEA House is so sharp and shiny, so powerful and bright, that it assumes complete command of the square, and becomes the focus of it. The other buildings withdraw like embarrassed shadows. A real competition winner'. The building was refurbished by Ryders in 2000 and listed in 2015. It is still a community services building. GRADE 2 LISTED.