Military Vehicle Museum

The Military Vehicle Museum, originally known as the Palace of Arts, is an exhibition building constructed between 1928 and 1929. It features a steel frame with concrete cladding and is a single-storey structure measuring 15 bays by 19 bays. The main facade includes a prominent central portico supported by ten base-less and capital-less square fluted columns, which rest on a seven-step base. A three-step flat parapet extends around the entire building. Flanking the portico are two three-bay blind wings, each with three blind windows. Atop the building is a central octagonal cupola crowned by a shallow octagonal dome. The side facades are decorated with twenty base-less and capital-less fluted pilasters. Inside, there is a central domed space surrounded by linking galleries, which are divided by wooden panelled walls featuring Art Deco style doorways. This building was initially built for the North East Coast Exhibition, which was inaugurated by the Prince of Wales on May 14, 1929. After the exhibition ended on October 26, 1929, it was acquired by Newcastle upon Tyne Corporation and repurposed as the Museum of Science and Engineering, which opened in 1934. It currently serves as the Military Vehicles Museum and is the only remaining structure from the 1929 North East Coast Exhibition.