16 Pilgrim Street, F Robson and Co. Opticians

Ryder and Yates designed the façade of this optician's premises in 1962 in clear plate glass. The company name was engraved in plastic-laminate-faced plywood panels. The original Victorian shopfront and reception area was replaced but the rest of the interior remained unchanged. The reception interior was decorated with white Formica-faced panels. Next to the main entrance there was a black Formica screen showing a plan of medieval Newcastle. Formica was manufactured at a factory at North Shields. The shop was awarded a Civic Trust Commendation on 1963. The façade lasted until the 1990s when it was replaced with an all-glass façade.