Bolam Coyne

Byker was rebuilt in the 1970s to the designs of Ralph Erskine, with 2,000 houses and flats, divided almost equally between low rise housing and a spine wall of up to eight storeys designed as a shield to an intended motorway.

Bolam Coyne is considered to be one of the most imaginative and remarkable single developments within the Byker estate.

It is one of the more highly coloured and textured of two contemporary landscaped developments, with the most complex integration of architectural and landscape features seen on the site.

However, it had become socially problematic due to a complex arrangement of shared deck access to many of the units and it stood empty for nearly a decade.