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On 5th August, we spoke at the NCC strategic planning committee. You can read our speech here. Alas, sense did not prevail, and the committee waved the NCC's own application through with very little debate (see their meeting agenda). Berwick is set to have its historic centre blighted by a huge, incongruous modernist block, for generations to come.
Watch Julian Smart's speech on 5th August, 2025
How did this come about? We will try to answer this question in due course, but essentially, an inexorable sequence of events (see the timeline) ensured inappropriate aesthetics and a lack of oversight at each stage, a backdrop of an ideological presumption against traditional architecture, and a near-monopolistic arts centre that is too big to fail and too powerful to criticise.
A shift of our heritage organisations (including Historic England, most of CAAG and most of the Berwick Civic Society) away from protecting our historic environment where new buildings are concerned, and towards a preference for modernist impositions - an invasive and pernicious ideology - means that the protections built up over many decades are almost worthless. If those who should be protecting us insist that ugly designs are actually progressive and exciting, and enhance our conservation areas, those conservation areas are doomed.
Berwick institutions could have insisted on a better design. But they were blinded by the money - £28.3m of it - and the myth encouraged by the Maltings Trust that this would disappear if any dissent was expressed. Many (but not all) Maltings supporters and the town's 'elite' then fell in line. Historic England's insistence on a "modern-looking design" and consequent removal of pitched roofs is a large factor, backed up by a chorus of "no pastiche!" - i.e., any hint of traditional design is regressive and cannot be countenanced. Boxes plastered with signage is the way forward from now on.
In rounding up the troops to put their supporting comments on the portal, the Maltings Trust used hyperbole, myth and what amounts to blackmail with the contention that any hesitation would be disastrous. And disgracefully, heritage concerns were dismissed as "nostalgia" - a weapon picked up and used by various supporters.
It was made pretty clear that those wishing to see a better design were the wrong kind of resident, selfishly holding Berwick back from reaching the sunlit uplands and the incredible economic dividends that only this Maltings design could bring. While most of the objections focused on the design, many supporting comments were vicious in their attacks and sneers at objectors, with name-calling being the order of the day. Some ignored the heritage harm, others simply said it was worth it.
See also: our speech at the committee, and our statement. The BBC web site has an article mentioning our dissent.
A bland and unsympathetic design has been proposed as the final plan for the new Maltings. This will be utterly devastating for Berwick: many views will be ruined by the modern, crass intrusion, complete with massive signage (see below and Visualisations). We urge that the new Maltings building is redesigned to avoid impacting so badly on Berwick's beloved townscape.
Please sign our petition at change.org/berwickmaltings to persuade the Maltings to have a rethink. (If you seem to be stuck in a loop on change.org, check your email as you have probably signed successfully.)
Although the application has now been passed, the building hasn't been constructed so you can still protest by signing the petition.
The application is available to the public for viewing and comment: 25/00792/CCD.
For convenience, some images from the Design and Access Statement (Part 2) are included in Visualisations below.
Download our report, The New Berwick Maltings: A Flawed Proposal (latest version is 1.1). It analyses problems with the application in detail, and contains some of the visualisations and a selection of comments from the public.
The report includes these chapters:
1. Introduction: Unveiling the Proposal’s Shortcomings
| 2. Heritage at Risk
| 3. Inadequate Community Engagement
| 4. Overstated Economic and Social Benefits
| 5. Environmental Shortcomings
| 6. Traffic and Accessibility Challenges
| 7. Harm to Wellbeing and Tourism
| 8. Procedural and Transparency Failures
| 9. Conclusion: A Call to Protect Berwick
If reading the PDF version on a mobile device, you might like to use Adobe Acrobat's "Liquid" mode or equivalent to reformat to a convenient text size. The Epub file is a better choice for mobile reading, using an app such as Adobe Digital Editions.
Formats: PDF | Epub (can be sent to Kindle) | ODT
The design is described in a consultation PDF and in the application on the planning portal, 25/00792/CCD.
This is a generic, soulless design that clashes with Berwick's beautiful architecture. When viewed from the south side of town, such as the Old Bridge, Tweedmouth or Spittal, the iconic Berwick skyline will be dominated by the unremitting massing of the new flat-roofed building. The design seems to owe a lot to the much-regretted Sports Direct building.
A previous design, shown in the summer of 2024, had pitched roofs, which some people have said they preferred. The architect said that Historic England wanted to see a building that 'looked modern', so this is why the pitched roofs have disappeared. Historic England have confirmed to us that the pitched roofs were removed due to their intervention. Bizarrely, this design is Historic England-approved and they will not help us (see our FAQ for more on that). At this point we can only help ourselves, by signing the petition and objecting.
We are asking for some time for further urgent consultation to improve the design to avoid damage to our skyline, potentially affecting tourism and certainly marring the enjoyment that residents and visitors get from Berwick's appearance. This is too important to rush.
At the very least, the pitched roofs should be reinstated to help integrate the building into the townscape, and further articulation added (features to break up the monotony!) Ideally, a new external design should be drawn up taking inspiration from local architecture that allows this very tall, massive building to 'hide in plain sight' amongst historic views that must not be damaged.
If the building were reminiscent of, say, a granary or a maltings, everyone would be happy, apart from the modernist purists who would rather the design contrast starkly with its surroundings. That's just not appropriate here. That's obvious to most, but it's a strange world and there are those who want to impose ugliness on us in the name of progress. Progress is not only possible but better advanced with beautiful, imaginative buildings - not this generic, cookie-cutter nonsense. We don't mince our words because this is an absolutely existential issue for Berwick.
If you have an inconvenient opinion, this is what you will be told by people who don't care what damage will be done and are focused purely on the millions in taxpayers' money. It's nonsense, of course. This design is a big step backwards for Berwick: progress would be a sympathetic design that doesn't trample over our heritage. It should be obvious that progress and attractive design are compatible. Those that are gaslighting you into thinking you're in the wrong are the ones about to do the most terrible damage to the town themselves.
Remember too that hideous architecture, though frequently foisted on the public, is not a 'settled' taste. It's simply a minority imposing, with some glee, their distopian vision on the majority. It's a fashion that will pass, and leave a brutal, bland Maltings stranded in yesterday's idiocy.
The Emperor has no clothes. We need to point it out at every opportunity.
"Please don't make the huge mistake of the 1960's by forcing "modern" architecture on an older town landscape. Time and again this happens and in my opinion ruins places. Please think again! Surely a good architect can be found to design a modern, functional building that sits beautifully amongst the surroundings? And while they are at it, adding some much needed greenery would soften any building."
"I live on the other side of the water and View the town daily. The new hospital is already an eye sore and a new Maltings development will create a skyline that is boxy and unwelcoming. Any design should fit with, and preserve, the historic character of the town."
"I am signing this petition because Berwick is not just a functional town, it is an historic town too and every effort should be made to maintain history of Berwick while we all have that the chance to do so. So many towns and historic sites are being ruined through what is called progress. The once lovely town York is drowned in what we call progress and you can't find the history of the place without it being pointed out. London, a city and very historic, but you wouldn't know that now. Let us keep Berwick as it should be and not spoil it with things we do not really need. Oh, yes we do need a theatre but not such a tall one. Such a blight to a quaint and lovely old town."
"Let's get this right for Berwick. There is an earlier design with pitched roofs that felt so much more interesting. It looked a lot less ‘blocky’ and reminded me of a building depicted by Lowry. It felt much more in tune with the towns atmosphere. The new Maltings should be a modern building but it should hint at the fascinating history and stunning geography of Berwick please!!"
"Good idea to expand the Maltings, however it does need to blend in with the surrounding buildings."
"Berwick is a unique, well-preserved historic town. This Maltings proposal is appalling and unthinkable."
"Hell no. Its an old town. Picturesque"
"Looks nasty"
"I think pets at home looks bad and that’s not in the town centre. This looks worse and in the middle of a historic town."
"I think a new modern arts building would be fantastic for the town but the architect should think outside the box and make the rear elevation something striking as well or something sympathetic to the current sky line."
"Less brutal dull cubes looking across the river into town."
"I would worry who would over see this makeover? We have all witnessed some very poor decisions both on practical issues and aesthetics over the past years. No accountability."
"I'm not against modern buildings per se but this is plain ugly. The youth project building's a great example of a newer but lovely building. It'll end up getting knocked down again in 30 years time, I suspect."
"Nooooooo can it not be a little more traditional."
"Oh no I hope not completely spoils the town view."
"I didn't realise that the existing building was going to be demolished and replaced, I thought it was just going to be an internal upgrade. Perhaps it would be better to start from scratch on a different site with better parking, etc. I'm not against improving the town, but it has to be realistic. Hopefully the new building will have a longer lifespan than the "thirty years" that seems to be the norm nowadays."
"Houses in town are forced to stay in the towns style when changing stuff like windows, so why aren't new buildings forced to keep in old style?"
"Another carbuncle for Berwick just like pets at home."
"Front of building is acceptable but the rear when viewed from Tweedmouth is horrendous. Haven't planners learnt anything from the coop/sports direct building and the pets at home building."
"Aye concrete city. They never save anything pull down and replace with utter monstrosities of no better benefit to the town."
"Really bad idea, take a look at Boots, that is when they did this stuff once before."
"That looks sh**. I wouldn't bother."
"That is a positively hideous looking building and if experience (Leisure Centre, hospital) has shown us anything the finished effort will be even more of an eyesore."
"Berwick is an old lovely town to put that monstrosity right in the middle would be a crime. I don't know who thinks of these buildings but they are right out of character. If they were wanting one like that why don't they make it on the outskirts. Could make more parking too ."
"One question to the chamber of trade, what impact will it have on the nearby properties surrounding the new build? ie will it block sunlight, shadow areas that once had daylight. Noise pollution etc. Have those impacts been ruled out?"
"No no no no. And no."
"This hurts the eyes, the view from higher in Tweedmouth would be appalling."
"I like the idea of a new Maltings with better facilities, I do however think a building should be timeless…..by that I mean I don’t think it will age, aesthetically, well. Looks like the building and use of space could be better thought out. That’s just a personal view, all for change and bringing new things to the town - just maybe needs a bit of tweaking slightly."
"It’s awful, sorry."
"You can want a new theatre but expect it to be attractive - it's not unreasonable. This one is not unattractive because it's modern, it's unattractive because it looks like a prison camp."
"I'm curious, why is the Maltings not acceptable as it stands? Who says so? Why does there have to be a new cinema at all? And if there does have to be a new one, why does it have to be in the centre at all? The swimming pool was slap-bang in the middle. When a new "modern" one was needed, it was built on the outskirts. (And here we are with yet another one. Also on the outskirts.) York has a similar centre it could be said, to Berwick. When they "had" to have a new, modern cinema, they put it on the outskirts. If Berwick "must" move with the times, and "has to have" a new cinema, why not up where Home Bargains is? Keep all the stuff together, where there's parking, food offerings, and buses already."
"It’s like those new houses at the bottom end of Spittal Beach! Totally out of keeping with the area and stick out like sore thumbs"
"Well if you think a concrete box at the end of the new bridge is warm and welcoming to our historic town no wonder our town is looking shabby and mixed up and totally unwelcoming. The clue is in the title Historic Berwick not concrete city."
"I can't understand why these new buildings have to look like prison camps! Are architects not capable of designing something to blend in with the historic town?? Just because it's new, it doesn't have to be a concrete block. If they can do it with houses..."
"Hideous! I've seen more attractive prisons!"
These visualisations are taken from the Design and Access Statement (Part 2) in the application. The view from Dock Road in Tweedmouth is not included on this page as it's completely erronous - two duplicate, very low-resolution photos are used, both with the old Maltings. In reality, the new building will be highly visible along Dock Road and from houses higher up. Images from Meg's Mount and the Sandstell Road car park also show no change, which is highly unlikely.
Multi million pound plans to redevelop The Maltings in Berwick take a step forward, Northumberland Gazette, 2025-10-14
BBC: Arts hub £28m revamp plan approved, BBC, 2025-08-06: "Dr Julian Smart, who started the petition, warned that the Maltings redevelopment could be 'Berwick's Sycamore Gap moment'."
Council recommended to approve £28.3m redevelopment of The Maltings in Berwick, Northumberland Gazette, 2025-07-29
Berwick Maltings design debate stepped up as more than 300 people submit their views, Northumberland Gazette, 2025-05-30
Planning application for the new Maltings venue in Berwick is imminent, Northumberland Gazette, 2025-02-18
These links can help to give you an idea of how architecture got to this point, what we're up against, and hope for the future.
The Architectural Uprising: A people’s movement against the continued uglification of our cities
The Ransacking of Britain: why the people finally rose up against ‘sod you architecture’, by Simon Jenkins
A review of Tom Wolfe's 'From Bauhaus to My House' by Scott Alexander. Contains excellent commentary on how ugly architecture became the norm.
Is public architecture dysfunctional? - explanations for the public's preference for traditional architecture found in neuroscience
