Cakebook 2011

Today's xsite is Anna...

We were involved with the EAT! festival again this year, helping to plan out the map for Cakebook earlier in the year and actually baking our own cake entry last weekend. We were joint Cakebook winners last year, so had hoped to retain our crown, but to no avail! The Farne Islands won in the end, the same team that we shared our crown with last year...

We baked, toasted, melted and iced a model of the Toffee Factory, one of our current projects on site in the Lower Ouseburn. It joined a giant map of the North East and Yorkshire, at Gibside, covered in other landmarks that people had created from cake... Here are a few photos of the cake creation process from start to finish...

The Redcar Hub starts on site

Today's xsite is Nita...

The Redcar Hub will be a creative industries centre - lettable space for small to medium sized creative businesses in the area. Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council Regeneration commissioned the project as part of a wider strategy to help promote the growing creative industries sector in the region as well as regenerate the seafront.

After a lengthy process of asbestos removal we are happy to announce that work started on site last week, with main contractor Surgo Construction.

As you can see from the photos the existing building is in a bit of a state, having been derelict for several years. The original theatre has undergone several renovations throughout its life, serving as a bingo hall, fast food outlet and cinema, as well as a theatre. Once the few remaining original features are salvaged from the building for conservation by the Theatres Trust, it will be demolished, with construction of the new building scheduled to start in Autumn this year.  

The new building will consist of 5 floors of office and studio space around an internal courtyard, with the ground floor accessible to the public. The front elevation will be fully glazed,  featuring a colourful wave graphic.

We’re looking forward to posting more updates on the blog as construction progresses.

Toffee Factory Progress

Today's xsite is Mal...

Construction at the Toffee Factory is moving on apace. Work is well underway on completion of the external envelope. The roof is watertight, external walls are framed out and half the windows are in. Brickwork is being laid to the Glasshouse Bridge elevation of the building, corbels and all. We’re excited about seeing the finished article in a couple of weeks time (corbels not building!) Scaffolding is down on the refreshed and repointed chimney while internally first fix of services is taking place.

Names for Bands

Today's xsite is Nita...

A hobby that we have developed in the office over the past couple of years is to think up possible names for bands, often over a Friday afternoon drink at the Cumberland. There are so many bands out there who make great music but have pretty terrible names. And inspiration for band names can come from all sorts of quarters. Unfortunately, none of us are looking to start a band with this name any time soon, so we are blogging them in the hope they may amuse others. So, in no particular order, a selection of our favourite names:

The Revetments
The Grubby Cuffs
Crosstalk Attenuator
The Windemeres
Transition Roost
The Dawn Swarming
The Dead Prospects
Goats in Transit
Cluster Flat
Visual Contrast
Commando Socket

We didn’t properly check if any of these bands exist already, if we have inadvertently copied your band’s name sorry (and kudos!).