1-75 Dunn Terrace, Byker Wall

Includes Graham House, Wolseley House, The Cabin, YMCA, Nos. 1-66 Northumberland Terrace, Salisbury House. Flats and maisonettes. 1975-78 for City of Newcastle upon Tyne by Ralph Erskine's Arkitektkontor;, site architect Vernon Gracie; strictural engineer, White, Young and Partners; main contractor Shepherd's Construction Ltd. In situ concrete cross wall construction, clad in strong brown, orange and buff patterned metric modular brick patterning to road elevations, red and buff brick to inner face, with elaborate timber detailing and white Eternit panels. Pale brick link block (Graham House) of concrete block construction, with red garden walls. Pale blue sheet metal roofs with projecting lift and stair towers rising to metal-clad points. 2-8 storeys. Perimeter wall block curving in gentle, rippling semi-circle from Byker Bank to the former railway cutting, and terminating in Tom Collins House. A link block (1-16 Dunn Street) separates Dunn Terrace into two and is joined at the main wall at second floor level by a bridge. The neighbourhood shop is beneath this junction. Two storey family maisonettes set within walled gardens on inner face, with smaller maisonettes above accessed from balconies on every third level. Dunn Terrace and Northumberland Terrace are the most brilliantly patterned of all the Byker blocks, with rich diaper and chevron patterns over four entrances cut through the wall, and patterning in contrasting brick forming the letters 'BYKER' in semi-abstract pattern. Salisbury House is mainly of red/orange brick. The inner face has soft green projecting individual balconies, and soft green fencing above garden walls. Erskine also designed the timber seating around the estate. The design of the wall reflected Newcastle's policy by the late 1960s of not placing family units above the ground floor, while the small upper maisonettes served the high proportion of elderly people then forming the Byker community. LISTED GRADE 2*