1-17 With Attached Walls, Steps And Entry Walkway

This block of seventeen flats and houses was designed between 1976 and 1978 by Ralph Erskine's Arkitektkontor, with Vernon Gracie as site architect, White, Young and Partners as structural engineers, and Shepherd Construction as the main contractor. The building occupies a long, narrow and relatively flat site in Newcastle upon Tyne.

It is constructed using concrete cross-wall construction, with the exterior faces clad in patterned brickwork of brown, red, orange, and buff. The courtyard area features buff brick and white weatherboarding. Dark blue weatherboarding is used on numbers 16 and 17. The monopitch roofs are made of blue metal and supported by plywood box beam purlins. High brick parapets incorporate steel restraints. The block is arranged in a horseshoe shape and stands one to four stories high.

Most flats have entrances from Raby Street, but dark blue staircases and balconies provide access to number 3 and 14 from within the central courtyard. Numbers 15, 16, and 17 are a three-story house, a two-story house, and a single-story bungalow respectively, all accessed via a dark green timber walkway. Brick retaining walls form circular bastions around numbers 13, 16, and 17. The windows are timber-framed with timber surrounds and aluminium opening lights; the doors are timber with glazed panels, some of which have been renewed in hardwood.

The design incorporates a central courtyard intended to provide a quiet area for residents, and the block’s height was intended to maximize views over the Tyne and act as a terminating feature to Ayton Park. Ralph Erskine described the area south of Commercial Road as less desirable and designed this block, alongside a larger park, to raise its status by incorporating elements resembling the existing Byker wall. Bolam Coyne is the most highly coloured and textured of the landscaped developments, demonstrating a complex integration of architectural and landscape features and representing a testament to Erskine's inventive and adventurous design approach.