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Friday 8 Oct 2004

FACELIFT FOR NEWCASTLE STATION OFFICES

Region & Route:

Guests gathered today to mark the completion of Network Rail’s restoration of 80 offices at the Grade 1 listed Newcastle Central Station. Graham Botham, Route Director, Network Rail commented: “This £3.7 million project has been a real labour of love.  Each of the 80 rooms has been painstakingly restored to their former glory using traditional methods and by the rebuilding of decorative features such as ceiling roses from scratch. “The success of the project has been ensured by the close liaison and partnership working with the building occupiers: GNER, Arriva Trains Northern and W H Smith.  Their staff have remained in residence during the work being relocated around the building in a complicated ‘chess game’.  I would like to thank them for their patience and cooperation.” To restore each room, the original 19th century lath and plaster ceilings had to be removed and replaced using traditional plastering techniques.  To ensure the correct methods were used the project team took advice from the Scottish Lime Centre Trust, based in Fife, Scotland.  In addition, magnificent decorative features dating from the golden age of rail had to be taken down and rebuilt from scratch.  Perhaps the most striking of these features was a ceiling rose measuring 2.5 metres in diameter, which was reconstructed with help from photographs and old drawings. - more - Newcastle - 2 Other work included the restoration of skirting boards, window sills and architraves.  Some of the offices are double-height with galleries for wooden filing cupboards.  These were faithfully restored including the decorative cast iron cantilever brackets and delicately detailed balustrading.  Each room was decorated and carpeted using the colour scheme of the train operator who leases them.  The lighting and IT systems were also renewed to provide a modern office environment in a 19th century building.  This should preserve the building for future generations.