Trinity Square Gateshead

Trinity Square is a shopping centre in Gateshead, Tyne & Wear, particularly noted for its Brutalist car park designed by Owen Luder. The concrete structure, which dominates the skyline of the town, has a prominent role in the 1971 film "Get Carter", so is often referred to informally as the Get Carter Car Park. The car park and the rest of the Trinity Square complex is currently scheduled for demolition and redevelopment by Tesco PLC.

Description

The car park was designed in 1962, when Brutalism was regarded as the cutting edge of architecture, but by the time that it opened in 1969, interest in the movement had begun to decline. The building's raw concrete weathered poorly, and by the time "Get Carter" was filmed the following year the car park had already become patchy.

The Multi-storey car park has seven tiers of parking decks. These are raised above the adjoining shopping centre by a "forest" of piloti columns. The decks on the north face have a slight curve creating a wave effect. There are two supporting towers containing stair access. Each level of car park is therefore uninterrupted, so that when viewed from a distance the sky is visible through the structure. A cafe unit in a contrasting box structure sits above the top tier of the car park connected to the access towers by an expressed glazed 'bridge' and an open walkway. The cafe has large windows providing views across the Tyne Valley.

The developer was E. Alec Colman Investments Ltd, who had also used Luder for their Tricorn Centre in Portsmouth, and construction was by the firm of Robert McAlpine. The Consulting Structural Engineer was Gordon Rose, Rose Associates. The car park was commissioned as part of the redevelopment of the established market square of Gateshead's town centre, and hence is also referred to as the Inner Market Car Park. However the landscaping ultimately created an exposed and unattractive shopping precinct on two levels with poor access. While construction of the car park was in progress subsidence was noticed due to mineworkings, but this was overcome. At the same time nearby Newcastle upon Tyne had begun the covered Eldon Square Shopping Centre and this further undermined the developmentFact|date=September 2008. The roof top cafe failed to find a tenant and was never opened.

Depiction in "Get Carter"

The car park is the location of several key scenes in "Get Carter" and is often seen in the distance. Corrupt local businessman Cliff Brumby (Bryan Mosley) gives Jack Carter (Michael Caine) a tour of the incomplete roof top cafe, stating that he is in the process of developing it into a restaurant. Carter later confronts Brumby at the same location.

Decline

With the development of the MetroCentre and competition from nearby Newcastle-Upon-Tyne city centre commercial interest in Gateshead town centre have declined. The 1985 opening of the Gateshead Interchange Centre, a bus and metro transport hub, combined with changes to town centre access for private motorists, made the car park largely redundant. Further, its deteriorating condition led to the 1995 decision to close the upper parking levels. In the late 1990s Tesco acquired an interest in the site and in 2008 work began to redevelop the entire Trinity Square site and the existing Tesco supermarket into a new town centre shopping complex. [http://www.gateshead.gov.uk/Building%20and%20Development/Regeneration/TownCentre/Trinity%20Square/History.aspx]

Preservation Attempts

During the 1980s and 1990s there were various proposals to redevelop the car park as a contemporary art gallery or events venue (and in 1983 Charlie Hooker and the Newcastle-based "Basement Group" organised "Mainbeam - a ballet for vehicles" there), but as the structure was regarded as a civic white elephant, these all met with local resistance. The building remains unlisted.The building was featured in the Channel 4 series "Demolition" in 2005. At the same time general interest in the car park has increased, partly as a reflection of the recognition of "Get Carter" as a classic of British cinema, with Sylvester Stallone lending his not inconsiderable weight to the calls for it to be preserved as a cinematic landmark.

Demolition Plans

On June 13, 2007, a joint press conference between Gateshead Council and the owners of the site, supermarket giant Tesco confirmed the demolition of the car park. If plans move at planned speed then the car park, according to Gateshead Council, will be demolished sometime in 2008. The shops in the shopping centre down below closed at the end of January 2008, in readiness for the demolition. A final tour of the upper levels was held by the owners of the site in April 2008. Demolition of the car park is scheduled to start by the end of 2008. Tesco will rebuild their current supermarket on the site and new public spaces and a cinema are amongst the plans for the redevelopment of Gateshead [http://www.yourtrinitysquare.co.uk/] .

The local newspaper "The Journal" confirmed that demolition is due to take place "between October and December" 2008 [http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-news/todays-news/2008/09/20/car-park-may-yet-hit-40th-61634-21861528/] The newspaper also speculated that delays could mean the car park may reach its 40th Birthday in 2009.

References

External links

* [http://web.archive.org/web/20070621115611/dspace.dial.pipex.com/town/pipexdsl/o/aouq09/getcarter/carpark.htm Tour of the car park as a location used in the film 'Get Carter']
* [http://www.getcarpark.org Gateshead 'Get Carter' Car Park Demolition Project] - a public art project based on the cultural impact of this building and its demolition.
* [http://www.flickr.com/groups/gatesheadcarpark/ Flickr pool]
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/tyne/content/image_galleries/gateshead_carpark_last_visit_gallery.shtml Photos at the top of the car park]
* [http://www.yourtrinitysquare.co.uk/ Tesco's website on the future of Trinity Square]