OUGD603 - Typeface design - Research

'Grainger Town is as much an idea as it is a place', as it is one of the most significant exercises in urban planning in the 19th century. Behind it all was Richard Grainger, a native of Newcastle and a builder who coordinated the radical replanning that turned Newcastle into a location of desire. Grainger's aim was to create a new commercial and residential heart within the historic town, and in turn create a architectural style that was totally different to any other northern city. His style was classical and had a taste for Grecian architecture which helped form the term, 'Tyneside Classical'. 

What makes Grainger Town exceptional is the series of classical streets developed in a period of radical construction between 1835 and 1842. Virtually all of it is included in Newcastle’s Central Conservation Area, one of the first to be designated in England. 240 of its buildings, half of all those in the area, are Listed. What is more, an astonishing 30% of these are designated as Grade I or Grade II*. Its centrepiece is Grey Street which is widely acknowledged as ‘the finest Classical street in England’. However the area also includes medieval streets like Bigg Market, the 13th century Dominican Friary of Blackfriars and remnants of the old Town Wall, and after Grainger’s day it was extended with many fine Victorian commercial buildings. All this gives Grainger Town a great richness of character, which only a small number of cities can boast of such a fine range of streets and buildings right in their centres.

However, the area hasn't always experienced the best of time as in the 1960s and 1970s, parts of Grainger's original scheme, were demolished to make way for projects such as Eldon Square, a shopping centre in the centre of the city. In the early 1990s, Grainger's legacy was in poor shape, as shops and offices moved out to other locations. Therefore, a programme of property development and environmental enhancement was started in 1993 with Newcastle City Council and the English Heritage to tackle most of the worst buildings at risk and stop the decline of the area. A proposal made made to turn Grainger Town into a dynamic and competitive location in the heart of the city. The aim of the project was to make Grainger Town a high quality environment appropriate to a major European regional capital. To look at Grainger Town today, the regeneration is in full swing as the area is restored to its former glory as shops and offices have returned.