The New Maltings
A beacon for a confident Berwick
Thank you for your continued support – and patience. Finally, the dreams we’ve shared and discussed for years are close to becoming a reality, thanks to concerted efforts by a great many people across the town and beyond.
The formal planning application marks an important step forward this month. We’ll leave the building on May 31 and begin clearing the site. The construction programme begins in the summer and we plan to be back in 2027.
As home to North Northumberland’s largest arts charity, the new venue will let us offer so much more to so many more. It’s a major vote of confidence in Berwick from the Borderlands Partnership, which invests to unlock sustainable and inclusive economic growth across the South of Scotland and North of England. Because we’re working to build not just a venue but the future of an assertive and confident town.
The Maltings means many things to many people. It’s been at the heart of many residents’ stories for 35 years. Inevitably, people have a lot of questions about our future; these are the ones we’ve been hearing most often. Please keep your questions coming, and we’ll add more Q&As over the coming months.
Why change? What’s wrong with the existing building?
It’s in a sorry state. When the owners, Northumberland County Council, commissioned a condition report they found it would need several million pounds worth of repairs. And that was almost 10 years ago, back in 2016.
It’s very energy-inefficient – which means our energy bills have risen by many tens of thousands in recent years. At today’s energy prices, it’s just not viable.
It can’t meet the standard of facilities and comfort that today’s audiences expect, and which Berwick residents and visitors fully deserve. Its disabled access is no longer acceptable, for audiences or performers. And inadequate soundproofing makes it hard to run two events at once, which limits our programming choices. This is one reason why space has always been limited for community groups.
What are the main changes we can look forward to?
We’ll explore some of these in greater detail in future communications, but the biggest differences include:
– A more flexible theatre space, allowing alternative theatrical presentations and community uses – like theatre in the round, or flat-floor music events
– Two full-time cinemas, enabling first-run programming and wider choice
– Studio and rehearsal room for community use
– Bright public spaces, including a viewing terrace over the river
– Expanded café and bar facilities, day and evening, all with great views
– An additional entry from Shoe Lane and Bridge Street.
Why do we say it’s good for Berwick?
Arts and culture have played major roles in the regeneration of many UK coastal towns – think Folkestone and Margate, now both thriving. Or consider the impact of Berwick’s own recent four-month Lowry exhibition. The economic uplift was independently measured at £500,000: that’s half a million spent in Berwick that we otherwise wouldn’t have seen.
The new Maltings venue will strengthen our shops and hospitality businesses and attract new investment to the town. It will create jobs and apprenticeships, both in the building phase and in the future operation of the venue.
It will offer enhanced cinema and theatre programmes to keep residents in the town (no more trekking to Edinburgh to catch brand-new film releases!) and to attract visitors.
It will increase opportunities for community participation, especially among young people.
And its café and river views will make it a destination in its own right.
It will visibly assert the town’s confidence in its future. As a statement of purpose and a beacon of growth, no other project comes close.
Why’s it taken so long?
This is a very large investment of public money. Quite properly, it must be scrutinised diligently at every step. As the Maltings’ landlord, Northumberland County Council (NCC) is driving the project. As well as drumming up large-scale grant funding, NCC has contributed its own support, for which we are very grateful.
There have been challenges, particularly over cost. Very high inflation throughout the development – and the impact of the Ukraine war, especially on steel prices – mean that the original budget goes nowhere near as far as when original plans were laid. Despite NCC’s help in raising additional funds, we’ve had to cut our cloth and make changes. And as we redesign, we have to ensure that all the elements of the Business Case still stand up to Borderlands’ scrutiny. Our Design team have worked hard to maintain momentum, but it all takes time.
The site has added its own challenges. We’ve needed to respect the archaeology found beneath it. And very unusually for a theatre, the building is prominent both front and back. That demands extra care, thought, planning – and expense.
Who’s been involved in shaping the design?
Advance Northumberland is the project manager, with NCC and the Maltings (Berwick) Trust as clients.
Our architects are MICA, an award-winning international architectural design practice; and our project is led by their founding partner. Other notable MICA projects include Dulwich Picture Gallery, the Ashmolean Museum, Hay Castle, the Cheng Yu Tung Building for Jesus College, Oxford, and Fairfield Halls.
Our theatre design team, Charcoalblue, are renowned as the world’s No1 integrated theatre, acoustic and experience experts. Recent notable projects include Liverpool’s Everyman Theatre, Chester’s Storyhouse, and in London the Linbury Theatre for the Royal Opera House, the Kit Kat Club at The Playhouse Theatre, @sohoplace, the Kiln Theatre and the Abba Arena.
The design team has consulted widely throughout, especially with Historic England. In Berwick, we’ve talked with future potential users and community groups and have been grateful for the response and input from two public consultations.
Stand out? Or blend in?
We believe Berwick’s cultural centre should not be afraid to stand out. As a beacon for a confident Berwick, it requires an assertive and confident design – a building whose ambition and welcome are plainly visible, while contributing to and sitting comfortably with the historic heritage that surrounds it.
From both front and back, the view on arrival is energetic and exciting. It promises that things happen here and invites participation. The venue accommodates many new features, so inevitably it’s bigger than the old one. It’s an honest building, not pastiching the past or pretending to be what it isn’t. Theatres and cinemas are box-shaped. That’s their nature, and on our unusual site there’s no hiding it. Instead, the architects have thoughtfully and sensitively shaped a dramatic addition to views that tell Berwick’s continuing story: not just of a rich and eventful past, but of an optimistic and energetic future.
Scott Sherrard – Chair of The Maltings (Berwick) Trust