Culture House submitted for planning
Our plans for Culture House, an ambitious new cultural hub in Sunderland city centre, have been submitted for planning permission. The project is a modern learning and community building that will act as new civic landmark within the wider regeneration of Sunderland. The building will host performance spaces, exhibition and gallery spaces, libraries for children, young people and adults, a local studies and archives centre, creative labs, spaces for instructed learning and play and a café.
The proposed Culture House will sit on the south side of Keel Square, acting as a focal point at a key location within the Riverside Sunderland masterplan, led jointly by FaulknerBrowns and Proctor & Matthews. The project was also part of a bid to diversify the city centre economy that was awarded £25,000,000 of funding from the government’s Future High Streets Fund (FHSF) and recently won commercial/mixed-use Future Project of the Year at the World Architecture Festival awards.
Culture House uses a strong sculptural form in brick and masonry to create an identifiable landmark within the city centre. The overall mass is carved into smaller blocks in response to the high street setting, with punched openings and towers expressed on the facades facing Keel Square.
The project will target 900 kgCO2/m2 of embodied carbon for the shell, core and fit out elements and operational carbon in line with RIBA 2030 Climate Challenge targets, using entirely electric building servicing systems with air source heat pumps and efficient LED lighting.
'Our ambition is to help revitalise the community of Sunderland. Providing learning studios and great places to meet and learn will enable everyone in Sunderland to be creative, have a point of view and be inspired. Our building will provide both digital and physical landscapes to energise the whole community. Our mission is to bring people together and enable them to flourish.'
- Steve Dickson, Associate Partner
Subject to planning approval, construction work on Culture House could start in September 2022. The project is expected to attract more than 500,000 visits per year and will act as major catalyst in transforming the city centre into a vibrant and diverse district.