There’s a new and rather imposing addition to the Newcastle skyline this weekend, as a 127-metre crane arrived in the city centre.
The huge machine has been set up ahead of the construction of a more permanent development for the Toon - the 27-storey Hadrian’s Tower.
When work is completed, the 82-metre development will be Newcastle’s tallest building.
As the monster crane goes up on Rutherford Street, we look at other projects set to change the face of Newcastle in the near future.
City Pool and Turkish Baths
Work on the £5m renovation of this historic building finally started early this year after some “unforeseen delays” - and it is expected to open to the public in summer 2019.
Fusion, a registered charity, is in the process of bringing the pool, Turkish baths and spa back to life, and adding a fitness suite and café bistro.
The plans include restoration of the Turkish baths and swimming pool, the creation of a new spa and fitness suite, glass fronted conditioning studios on the first and ground floor and changing areas.
The baths, first opened in 1928, were closed in April 2013 but a community campaign by Re-open Newcastle Turkish Baths Group was picked up by Fusion Lifestyle.
Hadrian’s Tower
The 26-storey skyscraper set to be built on Rutherford Street in Newcastle’s city centre is due to be completed by late 2019 and will have 162 privately rented apartments.
Public viewing from the rooftop, which will have panoramic views of the city and even as far as the coast, will be available 18 times each year.
The Whey Aye
In May ChronicleLive revealed plans to build ‘The Whey Aye’, a 460ft structure at the centre of a massive £100m development.
The colossal wheel, which contains the world’s biggest LED screen, will dwarf even The London Eye and help create 550 jobs.
The development will be built on a 344,500 sq ft stretch of the Quayside - around the size of five football pitches.
Formal plans are expected to be lodged with Newcastle City Council later this year.
If approved, developers hope the Spillers Wharf site will be ready within two years.
It will feature restaurants, bars, a state-of-the art virtual golf club as well as tennis courts and five-a-side pitches.
Bigg Market regeneration
Work is currently under way on the £3.2m revival scheme for Bigg Market.
The new public areas which are now under construction will include a series of levelled terraces, street furniture, greenery and an improved lighting scheme.
Last month a key site in the scheme took a step forward as plans to transform the famous Bigg Market toilets into a wine bar won the approval of council bosses.
The Victorian toilets were closed to the public in 2012 with the cash-strapped council no longer able to afford to keep them open.
Under the conditions of the venue’s licence, alcohol can be sold until 11pm from Monday to Wednesday and until midnight from Thursday to Sunday.
The council has also imposed a restriction stating that no more than 50 people will be allowed in the bar, with a minimum of 35 seats and waiter service available at all times.
Quayside West
Plans for a £250m “urban village” that developers say could become “the Ouseburn of west Newcastle” are set to go before councillors later this year.
Developer Newby has released details for its proposed Quayside West development on a derelict site next to the Metro Radio Arena.
Plans for the former Calders site on Skinnerburn Road include up to 1,500 homes as well as a hotel, bars, restaurants and several green spaces.
The open spaces include a public park facing the Dunston Staithes, a tree-lined residential boulevard, a “cascade” of public squares and green spaces at the bases of buildings and a ridge-top pedestrian walkway linking up the site.
White Hart Yard
The company behind Pleased To Meet You and Central Oven and Shaker aim to create 150 new jobs as it turns a collection of little known historic buildings into a range of bars and restaurants.
Crafter Projects expects to open the first phase of the project in Easter 2019.