The Board and staff of the Maltings (Berwick) Trust have been working closely with Northumberland County Council and MICA Architects on finalising the design for a the transformational multi-million-pound redevelopment of our Eastern Lane venue. NCC own the venue and are leading the building project.
We know how loved our current building is, and how hard our community worked to make it happen in 1990. But we’ve been increasingly aware how much the building lags behind in its facilities, its accessibility and its green credentials. And we want the very best for Berwick – so the rare opportunity to transform our venue in the current climate was too special an opportunity to ignore. We’re absolutely committed to ensuring the project delivers for everyone in Berwick, and the surrounding area – and we look forward to working from a range of temporary homes to maintain a film and live events programme alongside our gallery spaces during the build period.
The design will be mindful of the site’s heritage location and the Berwick skyline, whilst increasing floor area and exploiting the panoramic views across the 17th century old Berwick Bridge and the Tweed Estuary.
Audience in the Maltings main house auditorium
The venue will be a flagship cultural centre when we open the doors in 2027, able to provide a full-time year-round cinema programme alongside an expanded range of daytime and evening performances, event broadcasts, community projects, learning activities, workshops, and events for children and young people.
It will house :
- a remodelled theatre with a range of flexible seating configurations and stage sizes
- two dedicated cinema spaces, allowing us to run live events and cinema screenings simultaneously
- a destination restaurant and bar
- a rehearsal studio
- flexible-use meeting, conference, education, event, and screening spaces as well as technical facilities for sound recording, filming and streaming.
All our project partners are committed to ensuring we deliver a major asset for the town centre – attracting residents and visitors of all ages, boosting footfall and spend, and enhancing Berwick’s credentials as a must-visit destination.
During the building programme, we’ll be operating a temporary cinema from the reconfigured Mob Store at Berwick Barracks and programming live events at other venues in Berwick.
June 2024