High Street East, Social Services Centre

During the 1960s Ryder and Yates produced a series of buildings for healthcare and welfare. The Social Services Centre in Sunderland, designed in 1982, was, according to Rutter Carroll a radical concept. It was built for the Salvation Army to provide accomodation for women at risk, alcoholics and recidivists. It replaced a Men's Palace near the docks. The new building was H-plan with a courtyard. The central core contained the entrance under a cantilevered concrete canopy and communal facilities, flanked by two wings of accomodation. Rutter Carroll likens the building to a castle, with its high walls and small windows. It even had a cantilevered access 'drawbridge'. The resident's lounge and reception had an oval window. The two wings were of blue brindle brick. The central core was faced in tiles.