Tyne and Wear HER(15128): Sunderland, High Street East, Social Services Centre - Details
15128
Sunderland
Sunderland, High Street East, Social Services Centre
Sunderland
NZ45NW
Health and Welfare
Homeless Hostel
Modern
C20
Extant Building
During the 1960s Ryder and Yates produced a series of buildings for healthcare and welfare. The Social Services Centre in Sunderland, designed in 1982, was, according to Rutter Carroll a radical concept. It was built for the Salvation Army to provide accomodation for women at risk, alcoholics and recidivists. It replaced a Men's Palace near the docks. The new building was H-plan with a courtyard. The central core contained the entrance under a cantilevered concrete canopy and communal facilities, flanked by two wings of accomodation. Rutter Carroll likens the building to a castle, with its high walls and small windows. It even had a cantilevered access 'drawbridge'. The resident's lounge and reception had an oval window. The two wings were of blue brindle brick. The central core was faced in tiles.
4017
5723
NZ40175723
Rutter Carroll, 2009, Ryder and Yates - Twentieth Century Architects, p 115