Includes 1-52 Raby Gate. Perimeter block of 107 flats. 1971-4 by Ralph Erskine's Arkitektkontor; site architect Vernon Gracie; structural engineer, White, Young and Partners; main contractor, Stanley Miller Limited. In situ concrete cross wall construction, with concrete strip foundations and ground beams, clad in strong brown, red, orange and buff patterned metric modular brick patterning to road elevations, red and buff brick to inner face, with white eternit panels to upper floors and elaborate timber detailing at all levels. Pre-cast cantilever brackets cast into cross walls. Pale blue sheet metal roofs, with projecting lift and stair towers rising to metal-clad points and forming important townscape features. Prominent boiler flue at end of Raby Gate adjoins the Shipley Street Baths, which provided the district heating system when the block was first built. Five-eight storeys, with semi-basement at junction with Raby Street. Two-storey family maisonettes at ground-floor level, set within walled gardens on inner face, with smaller maisonettes above accessed from balconies on every third level. These balconies are semi-independent structures to reduce noise, with a seat or planting box covering the gap between the balcony and the building. Living rooms and bedrooms are set above or below the entrance level, which has kitchen-diners with entrance doors set in pairs. Balconies to bedrooms double as fire escape routes.
Raby Gate has prominent green timber balconies and access galleries on red subframe, with blue ends enclosed where the lifts and stairs provide access. Brown fences, pergolas and fixed seating to ground-floor maisonettes. Shipley Rise with blue enclosed end balconies and green balconies. All windows of timber, in timber surrounds and with aluminium opening lights. The windows facing the north are double glazed with wide gap. Timber doors with glazed panel, many renewed in hardwood, with fixed seat to side. The north face with red and yellow ventilators, with bold patterns in brick denoting the entrances into the estate. Here, too, old stone features are incorporated, said to come from Newcastle's Old Town Hall (Progressive Architecture). The interiors of the maisonettes simple, with stairs leading up from kitchen/diner, still divided by original counter in some flats. North side with retaining walls, green fences, blue pergolas.
This and the section between Dalton Crescent and Shipley Walk were the first part of the Byker Wall to be built and established its distinctive style. In March 1967 the Housing Architect's Department proposed the building of a barrier block to shelter the area from a proposed inner motorway to be built along the line of the present relief road and the metro, and this was revised by May 1968 after a Conservative majority had come to power. In 1969 Ralph Erskine was recommended by the Housing Design and Programme Working Group to undertake responsibility for the Byker Redevelopment, initially to reappraise the proposals made by the Housing Architect's Department the previous year. He endorsed the building of a barrier block, and based his design on that for his uncompleted mining town of Svappavaara, Sweden (1963), where a barrier block was conceived as way of creating a microclimate in its south-facing lee. Something of the same effect is achieved here, and the south-facing balconies and flats also make the most of the remarkable views. `Lack of windows on the outer side, and the forest of red and yellow ventilators, make it look very strong, yet the decorative style appears casual ... If there is something marvellously lighthearted about the design, this I would say is the topographical keynote of the new Byker' (Architectural Design, June 1975, p.333). The modular metric brick of 290mm x 90mm x 65mm was developed by Crossley and Sons in County Durham, in collaboration with the City of Newcastle. When mortared, it forms a 12" by 4" by 3" unit. The design of the wall reflected Newcastle's policy by the late 1960s of not placing family units above the ground floor, while the small upper maisonettes reflected the large need for one-bedroomed accommodation to serve the high proportion of elderly people then forming the Byker community.
Sources
Progressive Architecture, vol.60, no.8, August 1979, pp.68-73
Architectural Design, June 1975, p.333-8
Northern Architect, no. 3, January 1975, pp.30-3
Ralph Erskine's Arkitecktkontor, Summary of Architectural and Planning Aspects of the Byker Development, n.d. c.1976
Architecture d'Aujourd'hui, no. 187, October/November 1976, pp.51-5
Architectural Review, December 1974, pp.346-62
Mats Egelius, Ralph Erskine, Architect, Stockholm 1990, pp.148-60

Block of fourteen flats and houses. 1978-9 by Ralph Erskine's Arkitektkontor; site architect Vernon Gracie; structural engineer, White, Young and Partners; main contractor, Shepherd Construction. Concrete block construction, clad in brick and cream weatherboarding, with blue and cream timber to balconies and blue curved metal roof supported on box beam purlins, with translucent, greenish, covering over balconies. Crescent-shaped plan designed to complement the adjoining curve of Raby Gate (q.v.). Three storeys to south, two to north, on sloping site so maintaining a constant flat line for the roof. Balcony access to flats, with external access stairs to top level to rear; the upper access balcony supported on bracing springing from wall at first floor. Double-height balconies to south, where brick steps serve first access flight, a feature repeated for the low flight at north end. Brick rear walls with green weatherboarding to balconies, with steep steps. Timber windows in timber surrounds with aluminium opening lights; original doors red timber with glazed panel, some renewed in hardwood. Interiors not inspected but understood not to be of special interest.
This site was originally ear-marked for a three-five storey block, but the Special Subcommittee to New Housing Development Schemes requested a block of no more than three storeys, and the present design was developed in January 1977. The block was designed as a visual centrepiece for the Raby Street area, and Erskine approached the National Coal Board Museum for a steam winding machine as a feature that would reflect one of Byker's ancient industries.
The Byker area, first extensively developed in the 1890s, was earmarked for redevelopment from the late 1950s, with a new motorway to the north. In March 1967 the Housing Architect's Department proposed the building of a barrier block to shelter the area, and this idea was supported by Ralph Erskine, who was invited to develop the area for Newcastle Corporation in 1969. His Plan of Intent, published in 1970, promised a complete redevelopment programme of housing and landscaping with cost yardsticks, while maintaining the traditions and character of the neighbourhood, and to rehouse the residents without breaking family and social ties. His achievement in rehousing 40% of the original residents on the original site was exceptional, as were his methods of keeping the community informed of development and seeking their support and suggestions for the low-rise housing. In achieving these goals Erskine sought to exploit the south-facing sloping site, to develop a system of pedestrian routes through the estate and to provide a `specific "local" individuality to each group of houses.' The estate was redeveloped in a rolling programme of no more than 250 units at a time, to try to maintain the community's infrastructure. The idea was a sheltering perimeter block, which protects the estate from traffic noise and creates a micro climate, with low-rise housing in its lee. The modular metric facing brick of 290mm x 90mm x 65mm was developed by Crossley and Sons in County Durham, in collaboration with the City of Newcastle. When mortared, it forms a 12" by 4" by 3" unit. The inventiveness of the decoration, developed following the relatively muted `pilot scheme' at Janet Square, marks Byker out from other post-war housing for bringing the humane concepts of `romantic pragmatism' with its neo-vernacular details and materials to public housing in a unique way. It is probably also the greatest achievement of this important and idiosyncratic international architect. `If there is something marvellously lighthearted about the design, this I would say is the topographical keynote of the new Byker' (Architectural Design, June 1975, p.333).
Sources
Tyne and Wear Archives, MD/NC/106/31
Architectural Review, December 1974, pp.346-62
Mats Egelius, Ralph Erskine, Architect, Stockholm 1990, pp.148-60

Two terraces of houses, with single detached house (no.15) at end, and two flats (nos. 5 and 6) and house (no.7) forming frontage to small enclosed playground. 1976-8 by Ralph Erskine's Arkitektkontor; site architect Vernon Gracie; structural engineer, White, Young and Partners; main contractor, Shepherd Construction. Buff metric modular brick on timber frame, with red brick to nos. 1-4, and orange bricks to one wall of nos. 8-15, forming variegated corner patterns with the buff brick. Brown weatherboarding. Blue metal monopitch roofs on plywood box beam purlins. Nos. 1-3 with brown vertical weatherboarding to courtyard, and yellow door hoods. No.4 has projecting brick porch. End bird boxes. No.5 has weatherboarded porch, orange side wall and bird box. No. 6 with rear projection. Nos. 8-15 with high weatherboarded eaves above strip first-floor windows. All windows of timber in timber surrounds with aluminium opening lights; timber doors with glazed panel, some renewed in hardwood. Interiors not inspected but understood not to be of special interest. Blue fences an integral part of the composition. Courtyard lined with railway sleepers.
The Byker area, first extensively developed in the 1890s, was earmarked for redevelopment from the late 1950s, with a new motorway to the north. In March 1967 the Housing Architect's Department proposed the building of a barrier block to shelter the area, and this idea was supported by Ralph Erskine, who was invited to develop the area for Newcastle Corporation in 1969. His Plan of Intent, published in 1970, promised a complete redevelopment programme of housing and landscaping with cost yardsticks, while maintaining the traditions and character of the neighbourhood, and to rehouse the residents without breaking family and social ties. His achievement in rehousing 40% of the original residents on the original site was exceptional, as were his methods of keeping the community informed of development and seeking their support and suggestions for the low-rise housing. In achieving these goals Erskine sought to exploit the south-facing sloping site, to develop a system of pedestrian routes through the estate and to provide a `specific "local" individuality to each group of houses.' The estate was redeveloped in a rolling programme of no more than 250 units at a time, to try to maintain the community's infrastructure. The idea was a sheltering perimeter block, which protects the estate from traffic noise and creates a micro climate, with low-rise housing in its lee. The modular metric facing brick of 290mm x 90mm x 65mm was developed by Crossley and Sons in County Durham, in collaboration with the City of Newcastle. When mortared, it forms a 12" by 4" by 3" unit. The inventiveness of the decoration, developed following the relatively muted `pilot scheme' at Janet Square, marks Byker out from other post-war housing for bringing the humane concepts of `romantic pragmatism' with its neo-vernacular details and materials to public housing in a unique way. It is probably also the greatest achievement of this important and idiosyncratic international architect. `If there is something marvellously lighthearted about the design, this I would say is the topographical keynote of the new Byker' (Architectural Design, June 1975, p.333).

Sources
Tyne and Wear Archives
Architectural Review, December 1974, pp.346-62
Mats Egelius, Ralph Erskine, Architect, Stockholm 1990, pp.148-60

Includes 1-23 Oban Gardens. Three terraces of houses. 1978-81 by Ralph Erskine's Arkitektkontor; site architect Vernon Gracie; structural engineer, White, Young and Partners; main contractor, Fairclough Buildings Ltd. Red brick to street frontages, buff brick to garden fronts, with blue weatherboarded eaves to Oban Gardens. Concrete Marley Modern tiled roofs. Two storeys on steeply sloping site. Timber windows in timber surrounds with aluminium opening lights; timber doors with glazed panel, some renewed in hardwood, under red, green and blue metal hoods. The houses stepped down the steep slope in threes, with bird boxes at each step. Interiors not inspected but understood not to be of special interest. Blue fences an integral part of the composition.

The Byker area, first extensively developed in the 1890s, was earmarked for redevelopment from the late 1950s, with a new motorway to the north. In March 1967 the Housing Architect's Department proposed the building of a barrier block to shelter the area, and this idea was supported by Ralph Erskine, who was invited to develop the area for Newcastle Corporation in 1969. His Plan of Intent, published in 1970, promised a complete redevelopment programme of housing and landscaping with cost yardsticks, while maintaining the traditions and character of the neighbourhood, and to rehouse the residents without breaking family and social ties. His achievement in rehousing 40% of the original residents on the original site was exceptional, as were his methods of keeping the community informed of development and seeking their support and suggestions for the low-rise housing. In achieving these goals Erskine sought to exploit the south-facing sloping site, to develop a system of pedestrian routes through the estate and to provide a `specific "local" individuality to each group of houses.' The estate was redeveloped in a rolling programme of no more than 250 units at a time, to try to maintain the community's infrastructure. The idea was a sheltering perimeter block, which protects the estate from traffic noise and creates a micro climate, with low-rise housing in its lee. The modular metric facing brick of 290mm x 90mm x 65mm was developed by Crossley and Sons in County Durham, in collaboration with the City of Newcastle. When mortared, it forms a 12" by 4" by 3" unit. The inventiveness of the decoration, developed following the relatively muted `pilot scheme' at Janet Square, marks Byker out from other post-war housing for bringing the humane concepts of `romantic pragmatism' with its neo-vernacular details and materials to public housing in a unique way. It is probably also the greatest achievement of this important and idiosyncratic international architect. `If there is something marvellously lighthearted about the design, this I would say is the topographical keynote of the new Byker' (Architectural Design, June 1975, p.333).

Sources
Tyne and Wear Archives
Architectural Review, December 1974, pp.346-62
Mats Egelius, Ralph Erskine, Architect, Stockholm 1990, pp.148-60

Five terraces of flats and houses, and two bungalows (nos. 80 and 86). 1978-81 by Ralph Erskine's Arkitektkontor; site architect Vernon Gracie; structural engineer, White, Young and Partners; main contractor, Fairclough Buildings Ltd. Nos. 80 and 86 of grey brick, the rest of buff brick on timber frame with dark brown and blue weatherboarding, with light blue eaves. Concrete roofs of Marley Modern tiles. End bird boxes and timber porches, end stairs to nos. 42 and 44, nos. 88-90 (all flats), with brown timber balconies and sloping plastic sheet roofing. Brown bird boxes to end walls of nos. 80 and 86, which have red-brown weatherboarding. Timber windows in timber surrounds with aluminium opening lights; timber doors with glazed panel, some renewed in hardwood. Interiors not inspected but understood not to be of special interest. Blue fences an integral part of the composition.

At a late stage in the design it was decided to incorporate some flats as well as houses, to provide a range of housing sizes, although the houses were placed nearer Ayton Park, which the scheme abuts. This reflected the changing demography of the area, for Ayton was the first scheme developed after the old housing was entirely cleared and the original residents rehoused, so that it was designed to attract people from outside the original Byker area.

The Byker area, first extensively developed in the 1890s, was earmarked for redevelopment from the late 1950s, with a new motorway to the north. In March 1967 the Housing Architect's Department proposed the building of a barrier block to shelter the area, and this idea was supported by Ralph Erskine, who was invited to develop the area for Newcastle Corporation in 1969. His Plan of Intent, published in 1970, promised a complete redevelopment programme of housing and landscaping with cost yardsticks, while maintaining the traditions and character of the neighbourhood, and to rehouse the residents without breaking family and social ties. His achievement in rehousing 40% of the original residents on the original site was exceptional, as were his methods of keeping the community informed of development and seeking their support and suggestions for the low-rise housing. In achieving these goals Erskine sought to exploit the south-facing sloping site, to develop a system of pedestrian routes through the estate and to provide a `specific "local" individuality to each group of houses.' The estate was redeveloped in a rolling programme of no more than 250 units at a time, to try to maintain the community's infrastructure. The idea was a sheltering perimeter block, which protects the estate from traffic noise and creates a micro climate, with low-rise housing in its lee. The modular metric facing brick of 290mm x 90mm x 65mm was developed by Crossley and Sons in County Durham, in collaboration with the City of Newcastle. When mortared, it forms a 12" by 4" by 3" unit. The inventiveness of the decoration, developed following the relatively muted `pilot scheme' at Janet Square, marks Byker out from other post-war housing for bringing the humane concepts of `romantic pragmatism' with its neo-vernacular details and materials to public housing in a unique way. It is probably also the greatest achievement of this important and idiosyncratic international architect. `If there is something marvellously lighthearted about the design, this I would say is the topographical keynote of the new Byker' (Architectural Design, June 1975, p.333).

Sources
Architectural Review, December 1974, pp.346-62
Mats Egelius, Ralph Erskine, Architect, Stockholm 1990, pp.148-60
Tyne and Wear Archives MD/NC/106/31 and 32

Six terraces of houses. 1978-81 by Ralph Erskine's Arkitektkontor; site architect Vernon Gracie; structural engineer, White, Young and Partners; main contractor, Fairclough Buildings Ltd. Red brick, with brown weatherboarded end walls to north, white weatherboarding to south; concrete tiled roofs of Marley Modern tiles. One-two storeys, split-level-houses on side of steeply sloping hill, so that the kitchen windows on the north-east side are at ground level, and with prominent triangular staircase windows. Little metal bird boxes on either end. Timber windows in timber surrounds with aluminium opening lights; timber doors with glazed panel, some renewed in hardwood. Interiors not inspected but understood not to be of special interest. The timber fences, particularly at the ends where they continue the slope of the weatherboarding, are an integral part of the composition.

The Byker area, first extensively developed in the 1890s, was earmarked for redevelopment from the late 1950s, with a new motorway to the north. In March 1967 the Housing Architect's Department proposed the building of a barrier block to shelter the area, and this idea was supported by Ralph Erskine, who was invited to develop the area for Newcastle Corporation in 1969. His Plan of Intent, published in 1970, promised a complete redevelopment programme of housing and landscaping with cost yardsticks, while maintaining the traditions and character of the neighbourhood, and to rehouse the residents without breaking family and social ties. His achievement in rehousing 40% of the original residents on the original site was exceptional, as were his methods of keeping the community informed of development and seeking their support and suggestions for the low-rise housing. In achieving these goals Erskine sought to exploit the south-facing sloping site, to develop a system of pedestrian routes through the estate and to provide a `specific "local" individuality to each group of houses.' The estate was redeveloped in a rolling programme of no more than 250 units at a time, to try to maintain the community's infrastructure. The idea was a sheltering perimeter block, which protects the estate from traffic noise and creates a micro climate, with low-rise housing in its lee. The modular metric facing brick of 290mm x 90mm x 65mm was developed by Crossley and Sons in County Durham, in collaboration with the City of Newcastle. When mortared, it forms a 12" by 4" by 3" unit. The inventiveness of the decoration, developed following the relatively muted `pilot scheme' at Janet Square, marks Byker out from other post-war housing for bringing the humane concepts of `romantic pragmatism' with its neo-vernacular details and materials to public housing in a unique way. It is probably also the greatest achievement of this important and idiosyncratic international architect. `If there is something marvellously lighthearted about the design, this I would say is the topographical keynote of the new Byker' (Architectural Design, June 1975, p.333).

Sources
Tyne and Wear Archives
Architectural Review, December 1974, pp.346-62
Mats Egelius, Ralph Erskine, Architect, Stockholm 1990, pp.148-60

House. 1978-81 by Ralph Erskine's Arkitektkontor; site architect Vernon Gracie; structural engineer, White, Young and Partners; main contractor, Fairclough Buildings Ltd. Grey brick, monopitch roof of concrete Marley Modern tiles. Three storeys, square plan, with small timber windows (aluminium sliding opening lights) to front, larger windows to garden. Green door with glazed panel under red metal hood. Interiors not inspected but understood not to be of special interest. This house, which resembles No. 32 Michaelgate, is a deliberate contrast to the low, largely red brown timber-clad houses around it.

The Byker area, first extensively developed in the 1890s, was earmarked for redevelopment from the late 1950s, with a new motorway to the north. In March 1967 the Housing Architect's Department proposed the building of a barrier block to shelter the area, and this idea was supported by Ralph Erskine, who was invited to develop the area for Newcastle Corporation in 1969. His Plan of Intent, published in 1970, promised a complete redevelopment programme of housing and landscaping with cost yardsticks, while maintaining the traditions and character of the neighbourhood, and to rehouse the residents without breaking family and social ties. His achievement in rehousing 40% of the original residents on the original site was exceptional, as were his methods of keeping the community informed of development and seeking their support and suggestions for the low-rise housing. In achieving these goals Erskine sought to exploit the south-facing sloping site, to develop a system of pedestrian routes through the estate and to provide a `specific "local" individuality to each group of houses.' The estate was redeveloped in a rolling programme of no more than 250 units at a time, to try to maintain the community's infrastructure. The idea was a sheltering perimeter block, which protects the estate from traffic noise and creates a micro climate, with low-rise housing in its lee. The modular metric facing brick of 290mm x 90mm x 65mm was developed by Crossley and Sons in County Durham, in collaboration with the City of Newcastle. When mortared, it forms a 12" by 4" by 3" unit. The inventiveness of the decoration, developed following the relatively muted `pilot scheme' at Janet Square, marks Byker out from other post-war housing for bringing the humane concepts of `romantic pragmatism' with its neo-vernacular details and materials to public housing in a unique way. It is probably also the greatest achievement of this important and idiosyncratic international architect. `If there is something marvellously lighthearted about the design, this I would say is the topographical keynote of the new Byker' (Architectural Design, June 1975, p.333).

Sources
Tyne and Wear Archives
Architectural Review, December 1974, pp.346-62
Mats Egelius, Ralph Erskine, Architect, Stockholm 1990, pp.148-60``

Terraces of houses and four flats (nos.23-53 St. Peter's Road). 1978-81 by Ralph Erskine's Arkitektkontor; site architect Vernon Gracie; structural engineer, White, Young and Partners; main contractor, Fairclough Buildings Ltd. Red brick to street, pale brick to rear courtyard and private gardens. Commercial Road with pale brick rear alternating every two or three houses between red-brown and brown weatherboarded eaves over first-floor strip windows, and full red-brown weatherboarding. Concrete tiled roofs of Marley Modern tiles, those to Commercial Road stepped, mostly in pairs but no. 42 a single one. Steps on street elevation to flats, of timber with sloping timber roofs; projecting first-floor balconies behind, in red-brown timber. Windows of timber in timber surrounds with aluminium opening lights (mainly sliding); timber doors with glazed panel, many originals surviving, under red metal door hoods. Bird box to no. 53 St Peter's Road. Brick arch with timber portal, shielding stone entrance way with pediment and half columns allegedly from Newcastle's Old Town Hall - one of the last and largest examples of the architectural salvage found throughout the Byker estate, and wall links no. 53 to no. 50 Commercial Road. Bird box to no. 50 Commercial Road, and to every stepped pair down the slope. Brown fences to Commercial Road and St Peter's Road gardens an integral part of the composition. Interiors not inspected but understood not to be of special interest.

The Byker area, first extensively developed in the 1890s, was earmarked for redevelopment from the late 1950s, with a new motorway to the north. In March 1967 the Housing Architect's Department proposed the building of a barrier block to shelter the area, and this idea was supported by Ralph Erskine, who was invited to develop the area for Newcastle Corporation in 1969. His Plan of Intent, published in 1970, promised a complete redevelopment programme of housing and landscaping with cost yardsticks, while maintaining the traditions and character of the neighbourhood, and to rehouse the residents without breaking family and social ties. His achievement in rehousing 40% of the original residents on the original site was exceptional, as were his methods of keeping the community informed of development and seeking their support and suggestions for the low-rise housing. In achieving these goals Erskine sought to exploit the south-facing sloping site, to develop a system of pedestrian routes through the estate and to provide a `specific "local" individuality to each group of houses.' The estate was redeveloped in a rolling programme of no more than 250 units at a time, to try to maintain the community's infrastructure. The idea was a sheltering perimeter block, which protects the estate from traffic noise and creates a micro climate, with low-rise housing in its lee. The modular metric facing brick of 290mm x 90mm x 65mm was developed by Crossley and Sons in County Durham, in collaboration with the City of Newcastle. When mortared, it forms a 12" by 4" by 3" unit. The inventiveness of the decoration, developed following the relatively muted `pilot scheme' at Janet Square, marks Byker out from other post-war housing for bringing the humane concepts of `romantic pragmatism' with its neo-vernacular details and materials to public housing in a unique way. It is probably also the greatest achievement of this important and idiosyncratic international architect. `If there is something marvellously lighthearted about the design, this I would say is the topographical keynote of the new Byker' (Architectural Design, June 1975, p.333).

Sources
Tyne and Wear Archives
Architectural Review, December 1974, pp.346-62
Mats Egelius, Ralph Erskine, Architect, Stockholm 1990, pp.148-60

Block of flats and houses. 1978-81 by Ralph Erskine's Arkitektkontor; site architect Vernon Gracie; structural engineer, White, Young and Partners; main contractor, Fairclough Buildings Ltd. Red and buff brick metric modular brick cladding to concrete block internal cross-wall construction, with bright green and blue weatherboarding and near-white eternit panels. Monopitch concrete tile roofs of Marley Modern tiles. One, two and three storeys. The north face largely of red brick, those to west and south with high bright-green weatherboarded eaves above first floor. Red-brown and blue timber balconies to flats (nos.9-16), with two-storey balconies to central range (nos. 9-14). Inner courtyard mainly faced in eternit, with two sets of timber steps to flats. Bird box on the side of no. 19. Windows of timber in timber surrounds with aluminium opening lights (mainly sliding); timber doors with glazed panel, some renewed in hardwood. Blue fences and bin stores an integral part of the courtyard composition. Interiors not inspected but understood not to be of special interest.

The Brow is the balancing block to Bolam Coyne at the eastern edge of Ayton Park. Its style reflects the change in the use of materials and colours between the building of the Bolam and Ayton neighbourhoods.

The Byker area, first extensively developed in the 1890s, was earmarked for redevelopment from the late 1950s, with a new motorway to the north. In March 1967 the Housing Architect's Department proposed the building of a barrier block to shelter the area, and this idea was supported by Ralph Erskine, who was invited to develop the area for Newcastle Corporation in 1969. His Plan of Intent, published in 1970, promised a complete redevelopment programme of housing and landscaping with cost yardsticks, while maintaining the traditions and character of the neighbourhood, and to rehouse the residents without breaking family and social ties. His achievement in rehousing 40% of the original residents on the original site was exceptional, as were his methods of keeping the community informed of development and seeking their support and suggestions for the low-rise housing. In achieving these goals Erskine sought to exploit the south-facing sloping site, to develop a system of pedestrian routes through the estate and to provide a `specific "local" individuality to each group of houses.' The estate was redeveloped in a rolling programme of no more than 250 units at a time, to try to maintain the community's infrastructure. The idea was a sheltering perimeter block, which protects the estate from traffic noise and creates a micro climate, with low-rise housing in its lee. The modular metric facing brick of 290mm x 90mm x 65mm was developed by Crossley and Sons in County Durham, in collaboration with the City of Newcastle. When mortared, it forms a 12" by 4" by 3" unit. The inventiveness of the decoration, developed following the relatively muted `pilot scheme' at Janet Square, marks Byker out from other post-war housing for bringing the humane concepts of `romantic pragmatism' with its neo-vernacular details and materials to public housing in a unique way. It is probably also the greatest achievement of this important and idiosyncratic international architect. `If there is something marvellously lighthearted about the design, this I would say is the topographical keynote of the new Byker' (Architectural Design, June 1975, p.333).

Sources
Tyne and Wear Archives
Architectural Review, December 1974, pp.346-62
Mats Egelius, Ralph Erskine, Architect, Stockholm 1990, pp.148-60

Includes Nos. 2-18 Janet Square, 239-251 Janet Street, 187-205 Kirk Street, 228-252 Kirk Street with attached steps, ramps, walls and fences. Group of 46 houses and some flats arranged in terraces centred on a square. 1970-1 by Ralph Erskine's Arkitektkontor; site architect Vernon Gracie; structural engineer, White, Young and Partners; main contractor, Stanley Miller Ltd. Dark beige brick metric modular brick cladding to timber frame, with green and blue weatherboarding and cream eternit panels, monopitch metal roofs supported on plywood box beam purlins follow the line of the slope. Two and three storeys on steeply sloping site. The site is dominated by the pedestrian Janet Square itself, reached by low ground-floor entrance openings in the terraces. Timber windows in timber surrounds with aluminium opening lights (many sliding). Timber doors with glazed panel, many renewed in hardwood. All the houses have blue metal door hoods. Balconies with brown and blue timber balustrades supported on steel poles.

Janet Square is all two storey, although nos. 14-16 are flats, the upper one entered via external timber stair. Nos. 9-11 with green weatherboarding. Nos. 191-193 and 228-30 Kirk Street and 241-243 Janet Street are flats, the upper flat entered via external timber stair. 228-230 Kirk Street and nos. 9-13 (odd) and 18 Janet Square have green weatherboarding, with eaves panels of eternit. Nos. 201-205 Kirk Street are three-storey houses. First-floor flats with balconies on outer face, the outer faces all with brown and green fences, which with the steps and ramps through the square are an integral part of the composition.

Janet Square was the Pilot Scheme for the Byker redevelopment. In 1969 Ralph Erskine was recommended by the Housing Design and Programme Working Group to undertake responsibility for the Byker Redevelopment, initially to reappraise the proposals made by the Housing Architect's Department in March 1967. Working from their office in Brinkburn Street, Erskine and his team found 46 families who were prepared to be the `guinea pigs' for a pilot project on land already cleared between Kirk Street and Janet Street. The design was developed through a series of meetings with them in early 1970. Their preferences for semi-open plan ground floors and a pedestrianised square informed the design, and their experiences informed the rest of the low-rise housing, with its brighter colours, greater privacy of internal courtyards and provision of children's playspaces. Their chief involvement was in the detail of the design, down to the position of plug sockets (Housing Review) While Erskine and his office retained full design control of the scheme, this method of consulation with the actual families who were to live in the new housing was innovatory in 1970, and led to the continued system of operating a 'drop in' centre to disseminate information and hold meetings with prospective tenants and the city council thereafter. 'Erkine, in a masterbuilder role, has produced a strong, albeit informal, aesthetic of nooks, crannies and permutations of single house types' (Architects' Journal, 3 March 1976, p.418). For Erskine 'the Pilot Scheme has continued to have significance for both the Corporation and ourselves in our concern to see the new community that is springing up, work to the full potential that we believe its physical aspects are capable of fulfilling. ... It was a "one off" exercise, and we did not have the time and resources to continue the redevelopment along the same lines socially, although the design philosophy has grown and developed from those original houses' (Housing Review, pp.153-4).

Sources
Tyne and Wear Archives MD/NC/106/18
Housing Review, November-December 1974, p.149-56
Ralph Erskine's Arkitecktkontor, Summary of Architectural and Planning Aspects of the Byker Development, n.d. c.1976
Architects' Journal, 3 March 1976, pp.417-19
Ralph Erskine's Arkitektkontor, The Byker Redevelopment, n.d. c. 1981