Jurys Inn NewcastleGateshead Quays
The 203 bedroom, four storey Jurys Inn NewcastleGateshead Quays hotel is situated in the heart of Gateshead on Baltic Quays and boasts a fantastic riverside location with views of the Tyne, an outdoor terrace and riverside bar and restaurant. With three dedicated conference rooms, the hotel can host up to 180 conference delegates and aims to become an important partner to local businesses, as well as working closely with the local community.
Jurys Inn NewcastleGateshead Quays was designed to provide a distinctive and prestigious hotel that combines flexible business accommodation and leisure facilities. Its form has been created to integrate with the urban grain and compliment the Tyne Gorge. It is situated right next to the BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, and close to the Gateshead Millennium Bridge, the Sage music event and conference venue and sits at the edge of the River Tyne. With such an exciting location, its form extends and creates a public realm that encourages cycling and pedestrian movement separate and safe from vehicles.
The architecture has been conceived as an outer timber enclosure over an inner solid building, all supported on a podium. The main corners are cut out to expose sparkling glazed areas and a central courtyard is sliced away to form a sheltered core.
The podium is constructed in sturdy blue/grey engineering brick punctuated with glazing, highlighted with sharp white ‘borders’ at the entrance and main windows.
The timber body is finished in veneered cladding and this is punctured by horizontal window strips, framed in metal ‘eyebrows’. These eyebrows are splayed to give movement and rhythm to the elevations and provide dramatic shadows at night.
The corners act as glazed drawers which are either pulled out, as at the main entrance and the north and west corners, or pushed in as at the north east river view corner.
The canopy to the main entrance has been detailed to reflect the white ‘ribbon’ element that frames some of the main ground floor windows. This gives continuity to the vocabulary of the ground floor podium. The main horizontal white element floats over the entrance area and projects slightly beyond the façade to highlight and protect the arrival area.
Internally, the hotel is designed to have active frontages at ground level. The entrance, bar, restaurant and meeting rooms all enjoy aspects over the river, South Shore Road, or the attractive landscaped courtyard.
Key features of the stylish bedrooms in Jurys Inn NewcastleGateshead Quays, some with fantastic riverside views, include in-room air conditioning, flat-screen TV with freeview, Laundry/Dry Cleaning service, WIFI and tea/coffee refreshment docks.
Green Roof
Plant at roof level has been kept to a minimum and screened and the hotel features the largest green roof in Gateshead. The ecologically-responsible living sedum roof is made from plants rather than traditional roofing materials, which improves the thermal insulation of the building, helps support the local ecology and aids biodiversity by providing a healthy habitat for indigenous flora and fauna. It is also an attractive focal point for some of the taller surrounding office buildings.
Landscape and Public Art
The western boundary is marked with a small hedge and individual trees and the northern boundary is defined with sculptural stainless steel cycle stands. The scheme also includes a 10 metre wide quayside walkway which is paved to match the adjacent provision, continuing the Gateshead/Newcastle theme. It is dotted with seating and with trees, individually lit at night.
A local artist Bridget Jones was selected by architects Urban Innovations on behalf of Jurys Inn to provide some outstanding pieces of glass art connecting the hotel with the local environment. Her decorative glazing marks the corner of the bar and frames some of the more dramatic views. Prints, based on the same design concept hang on the walls of the bar. In the courtyard, which is linked to this area, sits an external glazed screen by the same artist. The screen bounds a sheltered and planted courtyard which residents can enjoy.
Jurys Inn has worked in close partnership with local art gallery The Biscuit Factory, in addition to Public Art in Gateshead and artwork from local artists is displayed throughout the public areas of the hotel.
Note: Full Photography to follow as this is being done w/c 3rd October
