NORR was commissioned by Sleeperz Hotels to deliver this £8 million scheme, which won the RIBA 2012 Hadrian Award. Located at the site of a derelict former Parcel Force building in a tight inner city space and on one of the busiest roads in Newcastle, NORR created a compact quality hotel with amazing views from the 19th century station, down towards the famous landmarks of Castle Keep and the Tyne Bridge. The site was previously thought “undevelopable” due to its awkward shape and small size, but using an innovative design and creative techniques NORR created a 98 room hotel with café and dining facilities, along with retail and restaurant spaces on the street. The hotel has enlivened the eastern end of Westgate Road which, despite previous attempts to invest in it, had largely remained unoccupied until the Sleeperz Newcastle hotel opened in 2012. The hotel was to be constructed immediately adjacent to the main London to Edinburgh rail line; a vital link between the south and north of the UK averaging 15 trains an hour. On top of this, the site came up against the Grade 1 listed railway viaduct built in the 1850s. NORR incorporated the beautiful stone arches and walls into the design and were able to keep the railway line live throughout the construction process. The design responds to its changing context, working with the scale and character of the street and the station buildings. Along the south face the building is integrated into the fabric of the existing stone walls; the architecture along this façade is influenced by the materials and rhythms of the surrounding buildings.