A total of £14.5million has been signed off by the Tees Valley Mayor and Combined Authority Cabinet to help deliver Northern School of Art’s new state-of-the-art further education campus in Middlesbrough.
The scheme will see the School’s college-level campus relocating from its existing Acklam base to an architect-designed, purpose-built, three-storey building in the centre of Middlesbrough.
It will create new teaching space for the North’s only specialist art and design college, which provides a range of arts, design, theatre and film courses and is recognised as a pre-eminent institution with an Outstanding Ofsted rating since 2009.
If plans are approved, the School’s new 5,200 sq. metre college level campus building will be located on the site of the former Denmark Street car park, opposite the BBC studios and adjacent to the town centre Sainsbury’s store.
The new location lends itself to providing an easily accessible base for students from across Tees Valley who are attracted by the School’s specialist creative curriculum, as well as supporting greener transport options with easy access to the bus and railway stations.
Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen said: “I’m delighted to have been able to provide funding so that the Northern School of Art can relocate its Acklam campus from the old, outdated buildings it currently occupies to a state-of-the-art, purpose built building in the centre of Middlesbrough.
“The School is hugely important to the whole of the Tees Valley, and its reputation as a national centre for excellence in the art, design and creative sectors will be strengthened thanks to the new facility this funding will provide.
“The brilliant campus, in its new central location, will inspire our students for years to come. The second-to-none education and training on offer will give them the skills they need to succeed, as creative sectors begin to play an ever bigger role in the region’s economy. It will also help the School achieve its university aspirations and go on to bigger and better things.”
Martin Raby, The Northern School of Art’s Principal, said that the approval of funding is part of a major step forward by the School, which changed its name from Cleveland College of Art and Design (CCAD) in 2018 and which has a 140-year heritage of providing creative education in the region.
He said: “This is an exciting new chapter for the School which, if our subsequent planning application is approved, will provide a new sustainable, state-of-the art building and bring new life to the western end of Middlesbrough.
“As the region’s only specialist creative institution, it makes sense for our campus to be closer to Boho in Middlesbrough and at the heart of the creative and digital cluster in Middlesbrough.
“The increased visibility and accessibility of the School will generate benefits for the region and town, attracting more students and footfall. More students studying in Middlesbrough also offers the prospect of increased numbers studying for their creative degree with us in Hartlepool.
“In turn, this will bring significant economic benefit for the area and help to redefine the image of the Tees Valley for inward investors, students, and visitors.”
